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CL.ARK,  Kate  ITpsoii,  author;  b.  Camden, 
Ala.,  Feb.  22,  1851;  </.  Edwin  and  Priscilla 
(Maxwell)  Upson ;  grad.  Wheaton  Sem., 
Norton,  Mass.,  1869,  Westfleld  (Mass.)  Nor 
mal  Srh.,  1872:  m.  Milwaukee,  Jan.  1,  1874, 
Edward  Perkins  Clark,  journalist  (died  Feb. 
16,  1903).  Taught  in  Cleveland  (O.)  Central 
High  Sch.,  1872-3.  Clubs:  Wheaton  (pres. 

since  188(5),  Meridian  (New  York).  Editor: 
Good  Cheer,  1882-7;  "Helping  Hand"  dept., 
Phila.  Press.,  1S83-6;  Romance,  1892-5.  Con- 
tb'r  to  Harper  publications,  Wide  Awake, 
St.  Nicholas,  Youth's  Companion,  Atlantic 
Monthly,  etc.;  also  to  religious  weeklies. 
Author:  That  Mary  Ann,  1892  L9;  Bringing 
~  Up  Boys,  1900  C7;  White  Butterflies,  1900 
T8;  How  Dexter  Paid  His  Way,  1901  C7; 
Move  Upward,  1902  C7;  On  the  Witch  Brook 
Road,  1902  T8.  Address:  545  A  Quincy  St., 
Brooklyn. 


"THAT   MARY   ANN 


THAT  MARY  ANN" 


BY 

KATE    UPSON    CLARK 


ILLUSTRATED   BY 

MARIA    L.     KIRK 


BOSTON 

D.    LOTHROP    COMPANY 

1893 


COPYRIGHT,  1893, 

BY 
D.  LOTHROF  COMPANY. 


A II  rights  reserved. 


XortoooU  I3rtss : 
Berwick  &  Smith,    Boston,  U.S.A. 


c/> 

LU 
OO 


TO 
o= 

THE    DEAR   AUNTS 

Who  have  done  so  much  to  make  "  Val,"  "  Max," 
M  "  Kirk,"  "  Charles  "  and  "  That  Mary 

in  Ann  "  happy,  this  little  story  is 

g  affectionately  dedicated 

by  the  Author. 


d 
a 

•; 

:• 

O 

uj 

Li 


452G01 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CURRY   BOYS   ARE   DISPLEASED      ...  1 

CHAPTER    II. 
CHARLIE  IS   WON   OVER 34 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE  GIRL   WHO   SAVED   THE  HOUSE       ...  64 

CHAPTER   IV. 

A  PICNIC   AT   THE   MAPLE   GROVE  ...  94 

CHAPTER    V. 

KIRK   STILL   HOLDS   OUT 125 

CHAPTER   VI. 

MARIAN   CONQUERS   ALL          .....  1G2 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Talking  it  over    .        .        .        .         .        Frontis. 

"Mary  Ann!"   groaned  Charles;  "what 

a  name !  " 17 

"  This    is    a    Chauliognathus    Pennsylva- 

nicus,"  said  Charles     .....          51 

Val  enlightens  Marian  on  the  subject  of 

butterflies 109 

She  lifted  the  child  in  her  arms          .         .         .         139 
"  We  all  want  to  know  about  everything  "        .        179 


THAT    MARY     ANN. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  CURRY  BOYS   ARE   DISPLEASED. 

THE  church  in  the  little  country  village 
near  which  the  Curry  family  was  spending 
the  summer,  was  undergoing  repairs,  and 
consequently  the  Sunday  services  were  held 
in  the  chapel,  Charlie  Curry,  the  eldest  of 
the  four  Curry  boys,  was  therefore  excusable 
(though  he  was  fifteen  years  old  and  large 
for  his  age)  in  getting  somewhat  confused 
about  rinding  the  first  hymn.  He  had  taken 
pains  to  carry  one  of  the  regular  church  hymn- 
books,  while  the  minister  had  the  one  com 
monly  used  at  the  chapel  prayer-meetings. 

"  Hymn  318,"  announced  the  minister. 

Charlie  had  noticed  that  the  young  lady  in 
front  of  him  had  no  book.  He  therefore 
l 


"2        THE  CUltHY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

hurried  very  fast  to  find  the  hymn  indicated. 
Having  reached  the  number  given,  and  with 
out  stopping  to  see  whether  the  words  cor 
responded  with  those  which  were  being  read 
from  the  pulpit,  lie  handed  the  book  to  the 
girl  with  a  polite  bow. 

His  brothers,  Kirk  and  Max,  who  were 
thirteen  and  nine  respectively,  "snickered" 
almost  aloud  at  seeing  this  performance,  for 
they  knew  the  secret  of  the  hymn-books. 

While  they  were  eating  dinner  Charles 
seized  the  opportunity  to  reprove  them. 

"Fortunately,  mamma,"  he  explained  with 
dignity,  "their  laughing  in  that  rude  way  did 
not  embarrass  the  girl  so  much  as  it  otherwise 
would,  because  she  was  clever,  and  she  saw 
what  the  trouble  was  right  away.  She  turned 
to  the  index  of  first  lines,  and  of  course  she 
found  the  hymn  at  once." 

"  You  never  were  more  mistaken  in  your 
life,"  broke  in  Kirk.  "  It  was  the  Perkins 
boy  who  sat  next  to  her.  She  was  fumbling 
around  as  helpless  as  you  please,  when  he  saw 
what  was  the  fix,  and  took  the  book  and 
turned  to  the  hymn.  A  girl  never  would 
think  of  looking  in  the  index.  " 

"Kirk!"  exclaimed  his  mother  warningly. 


THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.        3 

"  Well,  mamma,"  apologized  Kirk  in  a  very 
lame  way,  and  with  an  exasperating  air  of 
condescension,  "  girls  may  be  smart  in  some 
ways.  I  know  you  are  always  saying  they 
are,  but  it  isn't  that  way.  In  such  a  case  as 
that,  a  girl  wouldn't  think  to  look  in  the 
index  half  so  quick  as  a  boy  would." 

"  It  would  depend  upon  the  girl,"  responded 
his  mother  quietly.  "  If  she  did  not  think,  it 
would  be  because  she  was  stupid  ;  not  because 
she  was  a  girl.  For  instance,  Max's  friend 
- —  Seth  Mellows  —  though,  I  understand,  an 
authority  on  hens,  would  hardly  have  seen  a 
way  out  of  the  dilemma  this  morning.  On 
the  contrary,  that  Anna  Bassett " 

"  Oh  !  she,"  cried  Kirk.  His  face  began  to 
flame  up  a  little.  Anna  Bassett  was  a  girl 
who  had  persistently  distanced  him  in  every 
study  at  school  during  the  last  year,  much  to 
his  mother's  delight.  The  three  head  scholars 
in  his  class  at  school  had  happened  to  be,  for 
two  or  three  years,  boys.  The  four  or  five 
girls  in  it  were  all  of  them  dull  and  common 
place.  Suddenly,  a  certain  Anna  Bassett  had 
entered  the  class,  and  the  boys,  who  had  not 
unnaturally  become  insufferably  contemptu 
ous  of  giils,  had  been  compelled  to  change 


4        THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

their  attitude,  for  Anna  Bassett  had  easily 
taken  first  rank  in  the  class,  and  they  had 
heen  obliged  to  treat  her  with  the  highest 
respect. 

The  opinion  of  the  feminine  mind  which  is 
held  by  boys  and  men  is  almost  always  deter 
mined  by  the  kind  of  girls  and  women  with 
whom  they  have  been  associated.  If  a  man 
talks  much  of  the  silliness  and  inferiority  of 
women,  it  is  very  nearly  the  same  thing  as 
though  he  were  accusing  his  own  wife  or  sis 
ters  of  stupidity,  though  he  may  love  them 
dearly,  and  would  not  say  a  word  against 
them  personally  for  the  world. 

Kirk  recovered  himself  enough  presently  to 
add,  though  his  remark  was  rather  beside  the 
point,  "•  Anna  Bassett  is  a  year  older  than 
I  am." 

'•That  does  not  prevent  her  from  being  a 
girl,  and  would  not  have  kept  her  from  find 
ing  the  hymn  in  a  case  like  that  of  this  morn 
ing,"  said  his  mother  cuttingly.  And  now  we 
will  go  into  the  parlor.  I  have  something  to 
read  to  you  which  you  will  like,  and  then  we 
will  study  the  Sunday-school  lesson  for  next 
week." 

"  The  funniest  thing  happened  in  Sunday- 


THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.        5 

school  this  morning,"  said  Charles.  "Kirk 
and  I  were  sitting  behind  the  others,  and 
waiting  to  see  what  class  we  were  going  to  be 
put  into,  when  the  superintendent  came  up 
and  told  us  that  we  ought  to  go  into  Mrs. 
Sparrow's  class.  Then  he  went  to  ask  her 
about  it.  She  turned  around  and  looked 
right  at  us,  and  I  said  to  Kirk  that  she  seemed 
to  be  taking  '  a  bird's  eye  view  of  us.'  He 
went  to  laughing  as  hard  as  he  could,  but  I 
never  saw  any  pun  until  he  explained  it 
to  me." 

"  And  then  I  told  Mrs.  Sparrow  ;  because  I 
thought  it  was  so  funny,"  added  Kirk;  "and 
I  suppose  it  must  have  been  a  dreadful  thing 
to  do,  for  she  glared  at  me  as  cross  as  could 
be.  Women  and  girls  haven't  any  fun  in 
them,  somehow." 

"  Kirk  Curry,"  cried  his  mother  in  despair, 
"  it  doesn't  seem'  to  occur  to  you  that  you  are 
reflecting  on  me  every  time  you  speak  in  that 
way. " 

"  No,  I'm  not,"  disputed  Kirk  sturdily ; 
"  you're  different.  You  know  yourself  you 
are.  I  heard  you  say  to  papa,  only  the  other 
day,  that  you  didn't  think  women  had  much 
sense  of  humor." 


0       THE  CUJiltY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

Mrs.  Curry  colored,  and  murmuring  a  few 
words  to  the  effect  that  she  was  speaking  of 
a  particular  case,  began  to  read.  The  read 
ing  gave  great  satisfaction,  but  the  study 
which  followed  was  not  entered  into  so 
heartily.  The  boys  seemed  to  be  feeling 
unusually  active,  even  for  them,  and  it  was 
hard  work  to  keep  them  quiet.  Lydia,  the 
seller  of  purple,  was  the  subject  of  the 
lesson. 

"  What  color,  according  to  our  modern 
names,  was  the  ancient  purple  ?  "  inquired 
Mrs.  Curry. 

"  Red,"  piped  up  Max  proudly. 

"  Oh  !  I  understood  that  readily,"  giggled 
Kirk. 

This  led  to  spasms  of  uncontrollable  laughter 
on  the  part  of  all  the  boys,  even  little  three- 
year-old  Valentine  joining  in,  though  he  had 
no  idea  of  what  the  laugh  was  about. 

"  Well,  boys,"  sighed  their  mother,  who 
was  tired  out  with  trying  to  interest  them  in 
the  lesson,  "  this  just  means  that  you  will 
have  to  take  a  part  of  a  week-day  for  this 
lesson.  Now  you  may  go." 

Charles  begged  that  the  study  might  con 
tinue  until  the  lesson  was  learned.  He  dis- 


THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.       1 

liked  to  give  up  his  week-days  to  studying 
the  Sunday-school  lesson,  but  his  mother  was 
firm,  and  as  the  younger  boys  were  delighted 
with  the  idea  of  postponing  their  task,  Charles 
had  to  succumb. 

On  the  following  day,  the  three  older  boys, 
coming  home  to  supper  from  an  all-day  fish 
ing?  excursion,  met  little  Val  at  some  distance 

o 

from  the  house.  He  was  evidently  watching 
for  them  and  had  important  news  to  com 
municate. 

"  May 'an  tummin,"  lisped  the  little  boy. 
It  seemed  as  though  he  never  would  learn  to 
talk  plainly,  especially  as  all  of  the  family 
loved  so  well  to  hear  his  broken  words  that 
they  took  no  pains  to  teach  him  to  talk 
better. 

"  '  May 'an  ? '  "  repeated  Kirk  suspiciously. 
"  Who  under  the  sun  is  '  May 'an  ?  ' ' 

"  May'an  tummin,"  reiterated  Val  gravely. 
He  took  hold  of  Charlie's  hand  and  trotted 
solemnly  along  beside  him,  the  strings  of  his 
sensible  gingham  apron  fluttering  from  his 
back. 

u  Yon  heard  anything  about  it,  Charlie  ?  " 
asked  Kirk. 

"  Nary  word." 


8       THE  CUliRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

"You,  Max?" 

Max  shook  his  head.     "  Course  I  haven't." 

'•Oh!  there  isn't  any  body  Hum  rain.'  You're 
just  fooling  us,"  said  Kirk  to  Val. 

"May 'an  tuinmiu,"  insisted  Val,  now  rather 
impatiently.  "  Mamma  dot  letter.  May 'an 
tummin." 

"  Oh  !  you  can  talk  ever  so  much  plainer 
than  that,"  teased  Kirk.  '•  Come,  tell  us 
about  it." 

"  For  pity's  sake,  hurry  up  !  "  cried  Charles. 
"  T  want  to  know  what  this  mysterious  an 
nouncement  means.  The  only  'May 'an'  that 
I  ever  heard  anything  about  was  a  sister  of 
papa's  who  lived  out  in  California,  or  some 
where  like  that;  but  seems  to  me  she  died  a 
good  while  ago.  Maybe  there  was  a  cousin 
named  after  her." 

'•  Oh  !  a  fellow  can't  keep  track  of  his 
cousins  out  of  all  creation,"  exclaimed  Kirk 
impatiently.  "  People  have  got  to  show  up 
sometimes  if  they  expect  anybody  to  know 
about  them.  I  can't  remember  hearing  any 
thing  about  her." 

Kirk  reached  the  house  first,  and  found  his 
mother  reading  with  red  eyes,  and  for  the 
fourth  or  fifth  time,  a  long  letter  which  she 


THE  CURBY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.       9 

held  in  her  hand.  In  the  other  hand  she  held 
a  handkerchief.  Kirk  saw  that  she  had  been 
crying,  and  his  voice  softened  a  little  as  he 
asked,  "  What's  up,  mamma  ?  " 

The  other  boys  were  by  this  time  crowding 
around  her. 

u  Your  Uncle  Robert  Fowler  is  dead,"  re 
plied  his  mother.  "  You  ought  to  know,  but 
perhaps  you  have  forgotten  hearing  us  speak 
of  it,  that  your  father's  sister  Marian  mar 
ried  a  Mr.  Fowler.  They  moved  to  California 
soon  after  their  marriage.  She  was  an  in- 

o 

valid  and  unable  to  travel,  and  as  I  have 
never  been  to  California,  I  have  never  seen 
them  since  they  left  the  East.  Your  father 
went  out  there  six  years  ago,  as  Charles,  and 
perhaps  Kirk,  will  remember.  Shortly  after 
ward  your  Aunt  Marian  died.  She  left  one 
little  girl.  She  must  be  as  old  as  Kirk  is 
now  —  perhaps  half-way  between  Kirk's  and 
Charlie's  ages.  Her  name  is  like  her  mother's, 
Marian.  Just  think,  boys,  this  poor  girl  is  left 
without  father  or  mother.  Your  Uncle  Wil 
liam  wants  her,  but  your  Aunt  Marian  was 
very  fond  of  your  father  and  of  me,  and  the 
friend  who  has  written  us  this  letter  says 
that  Uncle  Robert  expressed  a  wish  that  we 


10     THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

might  adopt  her.  Marian  herself  has  written 
us  a  little  letter  which  is  inclosed  with  the 
other,  but  she  does  not,  of  course,  say  any 
thing  about  such  matters,  except  that  she  is 
coming  to  make  us  a  visit  at  once  and  is 
looking  forward  to  it  with  much  pleasure. 
She  was  deeply  attached  to  her  father  — 
more  than  most  children  of  her  age.  That 
was  natural,  because  she  was  all  he  had,  and 
he  made  her  his  constant  companion.  Her 
letter  is  very  sad.  They  are  sending  her 
away  for  a  change  of  scene,  and  I  can  see 
that  she  needs  it.  We  must  try  and  cheer 
her  up  all  that  we  can.  I  don't  know  that 
we  ought  to  take  her  entirely  away  from 
Uncle  William,  for  he  is  rich,  while  we  are 
not,  and  he  could  do  a  great  many  things  for 
her  which  we  cannot.  lie  has  been  settling 
up  Uncle  Robert's  affairs  there,  for,  as  per 
haps  you  older  boys  know,  he  lives  only  a 
few  miles  from  Marian's  home.  He  tele 
graphed  us —  this  letter  says  —  but  as  we  have 
never  received  any  telegram  on  the  subject  it 
must  have  been  lost.  Perhaps  in  the  confu 
sion  it  was  not  even  sent,  or  was  misdirected. 
Poor  Uncle  William  had  to  see  to  everything, 
and  he  must  have  been  deeply  agitated,  for 


THE  C URE  Y  BO YS  AEE  D1SPLEA SED.     \  I 

he  thought  a  great  deal  of  Uncle  Robert. 
Any  way,  it  was  thought  best  that  Marian 
should  at  once  have  a  change,  and  so  she  is 
coming  here  for  a  time,  at  least.  If,  after 
she  has  been  with  us  a  while,  she  does  not 
care  to  stay,  of  course  we  must  let  her  do 
whatever  seems  best.  If  she  prefers  to  go 
and  live  with  Uncle  William  we  must  not  in 
sist  on  keeping  her  here  ;  but  I  am  in  hopes 
that  she  will  like  us,  and  that  you  and  all  of 
us  will  make  it  so  pleasant  for  her  that  she 
will  feel  that  she  has  come  to  a  home  where 
everybody  loves  her." 

The  boys  had  dropped  into  chairs,  and 
flung  their  hats  on  the  floor.  They  sat 
listening  with  intense  eagerness  until  their 
mother  paused. 

"  Will  she  stay  with  us  after  we  go  back 
to  the  city,  too  ?  "  asked  Charles  presently. 

"  Certainly,"  replied  his  mother  ;  "  I  hope 
she  will  stay  with  us  alwa}7s." 

"  Where  will  she  sleep  ?  "  asked  Charles 
cautiously. 

"  I  hadn't  thought  so  far  as  that,"  remarked 
Mrs.  Curry  with  some  asperity.  "  But  when 
a  poor  orphaned  girl,  bound  to  us  by  ties  of 
blood,  comes  into  my  family,  I  expect  my 


12     THE  CURRY  BOYS  AUK  DISPLEASED. 

boys  to  almost  run  over  one  another  in  wel 
coming  her;  and  I  expect  each  of  them  to 
offer  her  his  room,  and  that  the  one  whose 
offer  she  accepts  will  feel  glad  and  honored." 

"  O,  my  !  You're  joking  no\v,  I  guess, 
mamma,"  exclaimed  Max,  aghast. 

Each  one  of  the  Curry  boys  had  at  home, 
it  must  be  remarked,  a  pleasant  room  all  to 
himself.  There  was  only  one  guest-chamber. 
The  boys  were  very  fond  of  their  respective 
apartments  and  did  not  like  to  give  them  up. 
As  no  one  knew  this  fact  better  than  Mrs. 
Curry,  it  is  not  strange  that  Kirk,  on  hearing 
Max's  little  wail,  laughed  sarcastically. 

i%  Of  course,"  continued  Charles,  who  felt 
it  incumbent  upon  him  to  do  something  which 
should  atone  for  the  evident  lack  of  hearti 
ness  in  the  others,  and  yet  who  did  not  feel 
so  over-poweringly  hearty  himself,  "of  course 
we  are  sorry  for  Cousin  Marian,  and  all  that. 
We  never  saw  Uncle  Robert,  so  of  course  we 
can't  realize  anything  about  his  death.  It  is 
too  bad  to  have  her  left  an  orphan,  though  ; 
but,  O,  mamma  !  why  wasn't  she  a  boy  ?  " 

k«  Yes,"  echoed  Kirk  forlornly.  "  Why 
wasn't  she  a  boy  ?  That's  it  !  A  boy,  now, 
would  be  some  fun." 


THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.     13 

"I  will,  of  course,  give  up  my  room  at 
home  to  her,  as  it  is  the  largest,"  pursued 
Charles,  with  an  air  of  heroic  martyrdom. 

"  It's  pretty  mean  to  make  Charlie  give  up 
his  nice  room,"  protested  Kirk,  who  well 
knew  how  much  Charles  delighted  in  his 
"  den." 

"  Well,"  interrupted  his  mother  hastily, 
"it  will  be  two  months  yet  before  we  go 
back  to  the  city,  and  there  is  time  for  a  great 
deal  to  happen  before  then.  It  isn't  worth 
while  to  worry  over  any  little  sacrifices  that 
you  will  be  forced  to  make.  Perhaps  Marian 
will  not  like  us  at  all.  Very  likely  she  has 
formed  as  absurd  notions  about  boys  as  you 
have  about  girls.  Uncle  William  was  to  tele 
graph  to  papa  in  New  York  in  regard  to 
meeting  her  there.  She  will  probably  have 
to  stay  with  him  for  a  day  or  two,  and  then 
he  will  either  send  or  bring  her  up  here. 
She  will  doubtless  be  here  soon,  for  she  was 
to  start  within  three  days  after  this  letter." 

"  O,  horrors  !  "  groaned  Kirk,  as  the  boys 
strolled  meditatively  out  to  the  woodshed  to 
clean  their  fish.  "  Think  of  a  girl  puttering 
round  here  !  She'll  spoil  everything  I  Now 
what  fun  it  would  have  been  to  have  another 


14     THE  CUlt  11 Y  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

boy  !  What  games  of  ball  we  might  have 
played !  Never  should  have  had  to  scour 
the  neighborhood  to  liud  another  fellow,  as 
we  generally  do  have  to  up  here.  And  we 
might  have  had  a  military  company.  And 
then  when  Max  got  huffy  we  should  have 
had  another  " 

'•  I  don't  get  huffy  any  more  than  you  do  ! 
And  I  don't  know  as  you've  any  right " 

"  Max,"  interrupted  Charles  sternly,  kt  you 
have  got  to  stop  this  saying  '  I  don't  know 
as.'  It's  vile  grammar,  and  mamma  has  told 
you  time  and  time  again  " 

"  I'm  sick  of  hearing  you  trying  to  fix  my 
grammar  !"  protested  Max,  with  a  very  red 
face. 

"  Well,  then,  why  don't  you  talk  better?" 
said  Charles  sharply.  "  You  make  me  as 
nervous  as  this  sucker  here.  It  is  as  natural 
for  you  to  talk  bad  grammar  as  it  is  for  him 
to  wiggle.  My  !  wouldn't  you  think  he'd  be 
dead  by  this  time?  But  he  isn't  by  a  long 
shot." 

The  sucker  had  been  caught  for  several 
hours,  but  he  was  almost  as  lively  as  when 
he  had  first  encountered  Charlie's  hook. 

The  boys  were  fond  of  fish,  and  they  were 


THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.     15 

willing  to  work  hard  at  cleaning  them  for 
good  Mrs.  Wellman,  the  lady  with  whom 
they  were  boarding,  and  had  boarded  for 
several  summers.  As  they  labored,  they 
gradually  fell  away  from  the  subject  of  gram 
mar,  fascinating  as  Charles  seemed  to  find  it, 
and  even  from  that  more  generally  interest 
ing  one,  fish  and  fishing,  and  reverted  to  the 
obnoxious  cousin.  For  the  misfortune  of  be 
ing  a  girl,  for  which  she  was  not  in  the  least 
to  blame,  she  appeared  likely  to  be  quite  de 
frauded  of  her  welcome  from  cousins  who 
were  in  the  main  very  kind-hearted  boys. 

"  Mary  Ann  ! "  groaned  Charles  as  he 
scraped  away  ;  "  what  a  name  !  " 

"•  Tisn't  '  Mary  Ann.'  It's  May-rian,"  cor 
rected  Max,  who  was  oppressively  truthful, 
when  not  expected  to  be. 

"  What's  the  difference  ?  "  asked  Kirk 
crossly. 

"  Oh  !   I'm  called  little  Mary  Ann, 

Dear  little  Mary  Ann, 

Though  I  can  scarcely  tell  why," 

warbled  Charles  to  the  tune  of  "  Buttercup." 
"  Good  !      First-rate,    Charlie  !  "   chuckled 
Kirk  rapturously.     "  Give  us  some  more  !  " 


16     THE  CURRY  SOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

Thus  encouraged,  Charles  proceeded  to  de 
scend  into  the  depths  of  bass,  winding  up 
shrilly  with  — 

"  Sweet  little  Mary  Ann,  I," 

at  the  end. 

They  all  laughed  uproariously,  little  Val, 
who  had  been  standing  by  all  the  time,  join 
ing  in  as  usual,  though,  as  usual,  also,  he  had 
no  idea  of  what  the  fun  was  about. 

"  Mary  Ann !  what  a  name  !  "  repeated 
Kirk,  when  they  had  somewhat  sobered 
down.  "  I  should  say  so  !  " 

'•  Oh !  we  might  as  well  get  used  to  it. 
It's  plain  to  see  that  mamma's  set  on  it,'' 
grumbled  Charles. 

u  Maybe  she'll  be  nice  now,"  urged  Max, 
who  was  always  inclined  to  optimism. 

k*  Oh  !  you  think  she'll  like  cats  probably, 
or  your  precious  hens ! "  cried  Kirk  scornfully. 
"That  won't  make  her  nice.  Nice?  A  girl? 
I  should  say  not !  " 

"  There  is  nice  girls,"  insisted  Max.  "  The 
trouble  is  you  don't  know  no  girls  hardly, 
Kirk  Curry!  " 

.  " '  Is  nice  girls  ! '     '  Don't  know  no  girls 
hardly !'  Max,  you'll  drive  me  wild !  "  fretted 


THE  CUREY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.     19 

Charles.  "  You  know  better  than  that ;  you 
know  you  do.  If  you're  going  to  talk  Choc- 
taw,  talk  it ;  but  if  you  pretend  to  talk  the 
English  language,  for  pity's  sake,  talk  that!  " 

Max  was  about  to  retort  angrily,  when  a 
sudden  mewing  caught  his  ear.  He  was  de 
voted  to  cats,  and  the  new  sound  struck  him 
as  resembling  the  wail  of  his  own  special 
black  kitten,  which  he  had  christened  by  the 
romantic  name  of  Charcoal. 

"What's  that?"  he  shrieked. 

"Sounds  like  your  precious  Charcoal,"  sug 
gested  Kirk  crossly.  u  There's  another  name 
for  you.  ;  Charcoal '  will  do  to  go  with 
'  Mary  Ann.'  Why  didn't  you  call  her  '  Le- 
high  Valley,'  and  done  with  it  ?  " 

All  of  this  irony  was  lost  upon  Max,  who 
was  rushing  in  every  direction,  and  peering 
into  all  the  corners  to  find  out  whence  the 
heart-rending  sound  proceeded. 

"  She  isn't  around  here.  That  mewing  is  out 
in  the  lot  somewhere.  Here  !  take  these  fish- 
things  to  her.  They'll  shut  her  up,  I  guess." 

As  he  spoke,  Charles  tossed  Max  a  news 
paper  full  of  fish-pickings,  and  the  poor  little 
boy  was  out  in  "  the  lot  "  in  an  instant,  while 
the  others  finished  up  their  task. 


20     TUE  CURlfY  HOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

Just  as  they  were  ready  to  wash  their 
hands  for  supper,  and  the  fish  were  frying 
merrily  over  the  fire,  Max  came  rushing  in. 
His  face  was  white,  and  tears  were  streaming 
down  his  cheeks. 

"  She's  up  a  tree  !  "  he  howled  piteously. 
"  My  dear  little  kitty  is  up  a  tree  —  the  great 
big  elm-tree  —  and  she  can't  get  down.  Oh  ! 
oh!  what  shall  I  do?  O,  Mrs.  Wellman  ! 
u-hatshalll  do?" 

"  I  saw  her  up  there  an  hour  or  two  ago," 
said  good  Mrs.  Wellman.  "  I  want  to  know 
if  she  hasn't  got  down  yet  ?  " 

She  pushed  the  frying-pan  back  on  the 
stove,  and  went  to  the  door  to  look  out. 

"  Have  you  tried  to  coax  her  with  the  fish?" 
she  asked. 

"  Oh !  I  begged  her  and  begged  her  to 
come  down,"  sobbed  Max  ;  "  'n  I  tried  to 
shin  up  the  tree,  'n  the  tree's  too  big  around. 
Say,  mamma,  how'll  I  make  my  Charcoal  get 
down  ?  See  her  up  in  the  big  elm-tree  there ; 
see  !  " 

Mrs.  Curry  joined  the  group  at  the  door, 
and  they  all  sallied  out  to  the  great  tree, 
which  was  only  a  few  rods  away,  to  see 
what  could  be  done. 


THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.     21 

The  elm  had  no  branches  for  more  than 
fifty  feet  above  the  ground.  It  was  a  grand 
specimen  of  its  class.  A  dog  or  some  other 
animal  had  evidently  chased  the  half-grown 
kitten  up  the  trunk.  Now  she  stood  in  the 
first  crotch  mewing  with  that  peculiar,  shrill, 
rasping  noise  that  her  kind  make  when  they 
are  scared  nearly  to  death.  Now  and  then 
she  would  thrust  her  little  black  paws  down 
ward,  clutch  the  bark  with  her  claws,  and 
make  as  though  she  were  going  to  descend ; 
but  the  height  apparently  terrified  her,  and 
mewing  mournfully,  she  would  retreat  to  the 
crotch  again. 

Little  Val  stood  looking  up  at  Max's  pet, 
with  great  tears  rolling  down  his  cheeks,  too, 
though  he  did  not  sob  after  the  tempestuous 
style  of  his  brother.  All  of  the  boys  were 
profoundly  moved  by  the  kitten's  distress. 
There  was  no  ladder  in  the  barn  long  enough 
to  reach  within  a  number  of  feet  of  the  crotch, 
and  even  Mr.  Wellrnan,  when  he  came  in  from 
his  work  a  little  later,  had  no  suggestions  to 
offer  as  to  a  method  of  relief  for  the  unfortu 
nate  kitten.  He  "  guessed  "  she  would  come 
down  during  the  night.  Cats  had  a  way  of 
doing  "these  kind  of  things."  (Charles 


22     T1IE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

winced,  but,  to  do  him  justice,  he  corrected 
nobody's  grammar  but  his  brother's.)  The 
best  way  to  do,  aceordiiig  to  Mr.  Well  man's 
ideas,  was  to  go  in,  eat  a  hearty  supper,  sleep 
soundly  all  night,  and  in  the  morning  they 
would  find  Miss  Charcoal  running  around 
the  kitchen  as  usual.  Why,  if  she  should 
jump  down  from  there  it  wouldn't  hurt  her. 

These  positive  assertions,  delivered  in  the 
calm  and  reasonable  tone  with  which  Mr. 
Wellman  could  always  convince  the  boys, 
partially  comforted  Max,  and  they  went  in 
at  last,  to  partake  of  their  fried  tisli.  After 
supper  it  was  cool,  and  behind  closed  doors 
and  windows  the  mewing  of  the  kitten  was 
lost.  The  whole  family  engaged  in  a  fine 
game  of  logomachy.  Max  won ;  and  this 
put  him  into  such  good  spirits  that  he  quite 
forgot  his  kitty  until  the  next  morning. 

Then,  however,  he  remembered  her  \\li\i  a 
pang,  and,  rising  shortly  after  daybreak,  he 
found  her  still  imprisoned  in  the  tree.  Her 
mew  was  fainter,  and  Max  was  sure  that  she 
was  going  to  die  right  away;  but  Mr.  Well 
man  was  still  confident  that  if  left  to  herself 
she  would  come  down.  Cats  often  lived  for 
weeks  without  food,  he  said.  There  was  no 


rlIIE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.    23 

danger  of  her  dying  ;  before  night  she  would 
get  up  courage  to  scramble  to  the  ground. 

Max  was  a  credulous  little  being,  and  upon 
hearing  these  words  lie  smoothed  out  his 
pudgy  little  face  and  went  to  feeding  his 
hens,  which  he  loved  next  best  to  the  kitty. 
Little  Val  accompanied  him  back  and  forth, 
as  Max  went  to  get  scraps  and  meal  for  his 
favorites.  "  The  baby  "  made  a  pretty  picture 
as  he  stood  by  Max's  side  helping  to  supply 
the  greedy  hens  and  chickens. 

For  a  week  or  two,  the  boys  had  been  plan 
ing  to  spend  this  particular  day  in  an  excur 
sion  to  Parker's  Hill,  the  highest  point  of 
land  in  the  vicinity.  The  weather  was  fine, 
and  Charles  and  Kirk  wished  the  original 
programme  to  be  carried  out.  Max  wailed 
at  the  idea  of  going  off  and  leaving  the  kitten 
suffering  in  the  tree,  but  as  Val,  who  was 
not  going  on  the  trip  to  the  hill,  promised 
faithfully  to  see  to  her,  and  to  feed  her  at 
once  if  she  should  come  down,  Max  was 
finally  induced  to  accompany  the  older  boys. 
They  carried  sandwiches  and  apples  for  their 
lunch,  six  eggs  to  boil,  and  a  tin  pail  to  boil 
them  in,  a  paper  of  salt,  several  potatoes  to 
roast,  a  cup  and  a  large  empty  bottle. 


24     THE  CL'HIiY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

In  addition  to  these  articles,  they  carried 
two  things  which  were  never  forgotten  where 
ever  they  went.  These  were  a  bat  and  a  ball. 

It  was  four  or  more  steep  miles  up  to  the 
top  of  Parker's  Hill  from  the  Wellinans',  but 
the  boys  had  stout  legs  and  were  used  to 
climbing.  At  the  "  Icy  Spring,"  about  half 
way  on  their  journey,  they  filled  their  bottle, 
and  stopped  to  enjoy  a  refreshing  draught. 
Then  they  trudged  on.  There  were  a  good 
many  raspberry  bushes  on  the  way,  and  prog 
ress  was  not  very  rapid.  At  a  fine  level  spot, 
they  laid  down  their  burdens,  and  had  a  game 
of  ball.  This  was  brought  to  an  abrupt  con 
clusion,  after  half  an  hour  of  capital  sport,  by 
a  throw  from  Kirk,  which,  as  Max  declared 
with  many  wails,  sent  the  ball  "right  square 
.against  his  brain/'  Kirk  sniffed  disdainfully, 
and  had  a  good  deal  to  say  about  "cry 
babies,"  under  his  breath  ;  but  Charles  com 
forted  his  little  brother,  dried  his  tears,  and 
said  that  it  was  time  to  stop  anyhow,  for 
there  was  going  to  be  a  lot  to  do  to  get  the 
unch  read}'.  They  therefore  fared  onward, 
once  more  enjoying  peace  and  harmony. 

Arrived  at  a  great  rock  not  far  from  the 
summit  of  the  hill,  the  boys  built  a  fire  in  its 


THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.    25 

shadow,  cut  two  crotchet!  sticks  on  which  to 
hang  their  pail,  got  some  brook-water  from  a 
little  stream  close  by  for  boiling  their  eggs, 
and  dug  a  hole  in  the  earth  for  their  potatoes. 
B}"  this  time  they  were,  after  the  manner  of 
boys,  ravenously  hungry,  and  sat  impatiently 
waiting  for  their  potatoes  to  cook.  Charles 
moused  around  a  while  hunting  for  beetles  of 
which  he  was  making  a  collection ;  but  finally, 
he,  too,  stretched  himself  out  beside  the  fire, 
where  the  other  boys  were  already  reclining. 
They  had  gathered  a  pile  of  sticks,  from 
which  they  threw  one  occasionally  on  the  fire. 

"  I  suppose  we  can't  have  many  more  of 
these  lovely  times,"  grumbled  Kirk.  "  That 
Mary  Ann  will  want  to  poke  around  with  us 
everywhere  we  go  after  this.  A  girl  in  the 
party  just  spoils  everything." 

"  Mamma  don't  want  you  to  call  her  '  Mary 
Ann,'  "  protested  dear  little  Max. 

"•You  shouldn't  say  'mamma  don't,'"  cor 
rected  Charles.  "  When  it's  one  person  that 
you're  talking  about  you  should  always  say 
'doesn't,'" 

"  I  think  when  we're  off  on  a  picnic  we 
might  talk  just  as  we  choose,"  appealed  Max, 
drawing  his  mouth  down  ominously.  "  'Spe- 


26     THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

cially  when  I  got  such  a  lot  of  wood,  and  cut 
the  crotch  myself,  while  that  lazy  Kirk  just 
dug  the  hole,  and  you  hunted  after  beetles, 
now,  and  when  I  was  telling  what  was  right 
to  do  for  mamma,  besides.  She  don't  want 
her  called  Mary  Ann  —  so." 

This  diverted  Kirk's  rising  wrath  from  -Max 
—  whose  insinuations  he  resented  bitterly  — 
to  the  original  subject. 

"Anyhow,  that's  her  name,"  he  insisted 
wrathfully.  "  Any  girl  who  will  call  her 
name  'Marian,'  when  it's  Mary  Ann.  I've  got 
my  opinion  of.  Oh !  they're  a  nice  set  — 
girls  are.  Don't  I  know  what  I'm  talking 
about  ?  Squeezing  themselves  up  in  corsets 
till  they  can't  run,  or  even  walk,  or  lift  up 
their  arms  to  reach  things  !  And  then  some 
of  'em  wear  false  hair,  and  paint  their  faces. 
It's  bad  enough  to  have  to  dance  with  'em  at 
parties,  and  talk  to  'em,  and  have  'cm  in  your 
classes  at  school.  And  then  to  think  that 
we've  got  to  have  one  of  'em  tagging  around 
everywhere  we  go  !  I  s'pose  we'll  have  to 
slow  up  whenever  we  go  walking  because 
she  can't  keep  along!  O,  gracious!  I  do 
hope  Uncle  William'll  take  her.  I  should 
think  mamma'd  see  that  we  don't  want  her. 


THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.    27 

I  don't  believe  she'll  want  her  herself,  when 
she  sees  her  silly,  mincing  ways.  I  presume 
she's  saucy,  too,  like  that  horrid  Elsie  Ten- 
nant  in  Max's  class.  She's  a  tearer !  I  do 
hope  Mary  Ann  is  like  her,  for  then  marama'll 
send  her  kiting  pretty  quick." 

"Oh!  come  now,". protested  Charles,  who 
did  not  like  the  idea  of  "that  Mary  Ann"  any 
more  than  Kirk  did,  but  who  was  far  more 
yielding,  and  was  for  having  justice  though 
the  heavens  fell.  "  All  girls  aren't  as  bad 
as  you  say,  Kirk.  You're  too  sweeping. 
Mamma  must  have  been  a  decent  sort  of  a 
girl,  and  if  this  Mary  Ann  is  anything  like 
what  she  ought  to  be,  she  can  help  a  lot 
about  taking  care  of  Val,  now  that  mamma 
doesn't  have  any  nurse,  and  maybe  she'll 
make  nice  desserts.  Oh !  perhaps  she  can 
get  up  enough  fun  to  pay  for  having  her 
around." 

Charles  sighed  lugubriously,  however,  as 
he  concluded,  and  Kirk  poked  the  fire 
savagely.  Max  looked  resigned,  and  rubbed 
the  bump  on  his  "  brain." 

"  Maybe  she'll  help  me  'bout  my  'rithmetic," 
he  suggested  presently. 

"I   should   think  you  needed  it,"  snarled 


28     THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISl'LEASED. 

Kirk,  whose  temper  always  suffered  under 
the  stress  of  hunger.  u  You're  the  boy,  I  be 
lieve,  who  said  that  the  difference  between  a 
common  and  a  decimal  fraction  was  that  a 
decimal  fraction  had  a  point  in  it  and  a  com 
mon  one  didn't.  You're  a  dandy  on  arith 
metic,  you  are !  Wasn't  that  the  best, 
Charlie  ?  " 

Kirk  threw  himself  back  on  the  ground  and 
laughed  immoderately.  Max's  dear  little 
face  puckered  and  puckered,  and  he  was  just 
about  to  burst  into  angry  tears,  when  Charles 
suggested  that  the  eggs,  which  had  been  boil 
ing  merrily  for  a  half-hour  or  more,  must  be 
hard  and  tender  by  this  time  —  done  enougli 
to  suit  "  even  mamma,"  who  insisted  that  eggs 
should  be  boiled  for  an  hour,  '•  if  boys  would 
be  so  unreasonable  as  to  like  them  hard.'' 

"  They  haven't  boiled  quite  an  hour,"  ad 
mitted  Charles  virtuously,  "but  it  must  have 
been  long  enough.  We'll  have  lunch  in  three 
courses.  We  must  begin,  or  we  shall  starve 
within  an  hour ;  and  those  potatoes  are  as 
hard  as  rocks  yet.  First,  we'll  have  sand 
wiches  with  eggs.  Then,  cake  and  fruit, 
and  when  they  are  done,  roasted  potatoes 
with  salt.  How's  that  for  a  menu?" 


THE  CURRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.    29 

"  Daisy  !  "  shouted  Max,  his  troubles  all 
forgotten. 

They  accordingly  set  to  work  eating. 
Charlie's  fastidiousness  as  to  grammar  did 
not  extend  to  his  table  manners,  and  some  of 
the  mouthfuls  munched  that  day  on  Parker's 
Hill  would  have  shocked  anybody  not  accus 
tomed  to  boys.  The  lunch  was  pronounced 
incomparable.  The  potatoes,  it  was  admitted, 
might  have  been  benefited  by  longer  cooking, 
but  the  hard  parts  in  the  middles  were  thrown 
away,  and  the  remainder  was  voted  excellent. 

When  they  had  rested  a  while  after  their 
meal  was  concluded,  they  climbed  the  various 
rocks  in  the  vicinity,  and  several  high  trees, 
and  thus  obtained  magnificent  views.  It 
then  occurred  to  them  to  partially  wash  from 
their  very  disreputable-looking  hands  and 
faces,  the  black  which  had  rubbed  off  from 
the  outsides  of  the  potatoes,  and  having  thus, 
as  they  considered,  made  a  sufficient  conces 
sion  to  civilization,  they  prepared  to  descend. 
A  little  down  the  hill  they  found  another 
"  dandy "  place  for  a  game  of  ball,  which 
they  straightway  proceeded  to  enjoy.  Dur 
ing  the  progress  of  this  game,  Max's  "  brain  " 
received  no  further  injury. 


IJO     THE  CURRY  SOYS  AltE  DISPLEASED. 

It  was  five  o'clock  when  they  came  trailing 
up  the  road  toward  Mrs.  Wellman's.  In  the 
yard  stood  a  tall,  well-shaped  girl,  bearing  at 
a  casual  glance  no  trace  of  the  awful  vices 
which  Kirk  had  attributed  to  her  kind.  She 
wore  a  plain  black  gown,  and  her  long,  light- 
brown  hair  hung  in  a  thick  braid  at  her  back. 
She  was  shading  her  eyes  with  her  hand,  and 
looking  intently  toward  the  kitten  in  the  elm- 
tree,  which  was  evidently  as  far  as  ever  from 
fulfilling  Mr.  Wellman's  prophecy. 

As  Mrs.  Curry  saw  the  boys  approaching, 
she  hastened  to  meet  them,  and  to  present 
them  to  the  tall,  fair  girl,  who  proved  to  be.  as 
they  had  instantly  surmised,  the  new  cousin. 
As  the}'  drew  close  to  her,  they  saw  that  she 
had  very  bright,  kind  brown  eyes,  under  beau 
tifully-curved  brown  brows:  that  her  nose  was 
rather  short,  and  had  a  decided  tilt  upward  ; 
that  her  teeth  were  strong  and  white,  and 
filled  her  mouth  a  trifle  too  full,  so  that  her 
red  lips  usually  parted  a  little  over  them  ; 
that  her  complexion  was  very  fair,  while  her 
cheeks  were  rosy  ;  that  her  expression  was 
affectionate  and  merry,  and  not  at  all  "glum," 
as  they  had  all  expected  that  it  would  be, 
since  she  had  so  recently  passed  through 


THE  CU11EY  BOYS  AEE  DISPLEASED.    31 

such  troubles.  On  the  whole,  though  they 
could  not  have  said  that  she  was  exactly 
"  pretty,"  she  was  certainly  very  "  nice-look 
ing,"  and  the  boys,  even  Kirk,  could  not  help 
smiling  when  they  looked  into  her  eager  face. 

She  made  no  movement  to  kiss  them,  which 
was  a  strong  point  in  her  favor,  but  grasped 
them  warmly  by  the  hand,  as  their  mother 
brought  them  forward,  one  by  one,  and  looked 
closely  into  their  faces  ;  Charlie's  broad,  fair 
—  when  not  too  terribly  tanned  —  and  gentle, 
with  spectacles  shading  his  near-sighted  eyes ; 
Kirk's  narrower,  sharper  and  darker ;  and 
Max's,  pudgy  and  snub-nosed,  with  big, 
manly  blue  eyes,  which  would  lead  one  to 
infer  anything  rather  than  that  their  owner 
had  the  slightest  tendency  toward  what  Kirk 
called  "  cry-baby-ism,"  all  of  them  brown  as 
berries,  and  arrayed  in  their  comfortable  sum 
mer  uniform  of  flannel  blouses  and  corduroy 
trousers. 

"  I  suppose  you  are  very  tired  from  your 
long  journey  ?  "  said  Charles  politely. 

"Not  a  bit,"  returned  this  unexpected 
u  Mary  Ann"  promptly,  and  in  a  full,  sweet, 
honest  voice.  "  You  see,  your  father  took 
the  best  of  care  of  me  in  New  York  yester- 


32     TUB  CURRY  1)0  YX  ARE  DISPLEASED. 

day,  and  made  me  rest  a  great  deal,  and  I 
had  a  long  night's  sleep.  But.  even  if  I  were 
tired,  I  should  forget  myself  entirely  in  seeing 
the  misery  of  that  dear  little  kitten.  Isn't  it 
too  bad !  Boys,  \ve  must  get  her  down  !  " 

"Just  so,"  assented  Charles  heartily,  "*  that's 
what  we  all  think.  The  only  question  is,  how 
is  it  to  be  done  ?  " 

"  We  must  simply  make  a  'how,'"  declared 
this  energetic  young  woman.  "  They  say 
there  isn't  any  ladder  long  enough  to  reach 
up  to  that  high  crotch ;  but  surely,  boys, 
there  must  be  two  ladders  in  this  neighbor 
hood,  and  why  can't  we  lash  them  together?" 

"  Oh-h  !  wouldn't  they  break  apart?"  asked 
Kirk  suspiciously. 

"  Not  if  we  lash  them,  I  think,"  returned 
Miss  Marian,  with  confidence.  "•  The  name 
of  the  man  who  lives  down  at  that  next 
house  is  Mr.  Houston,  they  say.  If  you  will 
go  down  there  and  borrow  his  ladder,  we 
might  at  least  make  the  attempt.  We  shall 
feel  more  comfortable  to  be  doing  something, 
even  if  we  don't  succeed.  While  you  are 
gone,  your  mother  and  Mrs.  Wellman  and 
Val  and  I  will  be  getting  clothes-lines  and 
things  ready  to  help." 


THE  CUHRY  BOYS  ARE  DISPLEASED.    33 

The  three  boys  ran  off  to  obey  her  bidding 
without  a  word.  Max's  face  was  beaming. 
None  of  them  thought  that  they  were  being 
very  docile  until  they  had  nearly  reached  Mr. 
Houston's.  Then  it  struck  Kirk  first,  of 
course.  He  slackened  his  pace,  drew  himself 
up  stiffly,  and  said  with  a  very  hateful  accent, 
"  Well ;  that  Mary  Ann  bosses  things  pretty 
lively,  I  should  say." 

"  She  seems  to  have  some  first-class  ideas, 
anyhow,"  pronounced  Charles  judiciously  ; 
"and  her  grammar,  I  observe,  is  as  good  as 
her  ideas." 

"  I  don't  care  how  much  she  bosses,  if  she 
will  only  get  my  kitty  down,"  said  Max 
briskly. 

"  That's  the  point,  Max,"  commended 
Charles.  "  People  that  '  boss,'  if  they  only 
1  boss '  well,  aren't  the  worst  lot  in  the  world. 
Besides,  she  didn't  mean  to  boss.  She  was 
only  thinking  of  getting  your  kitty  down  the 
quickest  way  there  is.  I'll  bet  you  she  isn't 
so  bad  as  you  thought." 

"  Humph ! "  croaked  Kirk  ;  but  he  kept 
along  with  the  rest  and  helped  them  carry 
the  ladder. 


CHAPTER   II. 

CHARLIE    IS    WON    OVER. 

UNDER  Marian's  direction,  though  the  boys 
were  now  at  a  point  where  they  could  go 
forward  by  themselves,  since  they  were  natu 
rally  painstaking  and  thorough,  the  ladders 
were  soon  lashed  strongly  together,  and  then 
Max  himself  was  allowed  to  ascend  them  and 
get  his  treasure,  while  the  others  steadied 
the  ladder  from  below.  Max's  face  was 
quite  pale  from  excitement,  and  litile  Val 
was  holding  tight  to  his  mother's  hand  and 
crying  with  the  stress  of  his  mingled  emo 
tions.  It  seemed  a  long  five  minutes,  and 
everybody  held  their  breath  while  Max  made 
his  way  up  the  tall  ladder,  clutched  his  kitty, 
and  stepped  carefully  down  again,  ushering 
the  half-starved  little  creature  into  a  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  other  edibles,  dear  to 
84 


CHARLIE  IS  WON  OVER.  35 

her  heart.  She  was  too  weak  to  eat  more 
than  a  little  warm  milk  at  first ;  between  her 
spurts  of  lapping,  she  reposed  peacefully  in 
Max's  arms.  Max  even  ate  his  supper  after 
the  rest,  in  order  to  superintend  her  properly. 
They  were  all  very  happy,  and  though  Marian 
had  retired  modestly  to  the  background  after 
the  kitten's  rescue,  Mrs.  Curry  did  not  forget 
to  thank  her  warmly  for  the  part  which  she 
had  taken  in  the  little  drama. 

As  the  boys  were  standing  by  themselves 
on  the  broad  front  doorstone,  on  their  way  in 
to  supper,  Kirk  grumbled  :  "  I  should  think 
there  was  fuss  enough  made  over  that  Mary 
Arm.  I'd  like  to  know  what  it  amounted  to 
anyhow  —  just  having  two  ladders  lashed 
together  to  get  that  cat !  As  though  any 
one  of  us  couldn't  have  thought  of  that 
simple  thing." 

"  But  the  fact  remains  that  we  didn't," 
Charles  reminded  him  shortly. 

"  Well,  but  we  would  as  soon  as  it  turned 
out,  as  it  was  only  just  beginning  to,  that 
Mr.  Wellman  didn't  know  what  he  was  talk 
ing  about,  and  the  cat  wouldn't  come  down. 
The  fact  is,  she  might  have  come  down  by 
herself  this  very  night." 


36  CHARLIE  IS  WON  OVER. 

"  Oh  !  she  was  too  little,  and  her  strength 
was  too  nearly  gone.  That  had  been  proved 
plain  enough." 

"  That's  what  Mary  Ann  says.  Anybody'd 
think  that  that  girl  knew  everything.  I 
think  she's  inclined  to  boss  us  around.  She'll 
find  she's  got  her  match  in  one  of  us." 

They  talked  a  while  in  the  twilight  after 
supper,  and  then  Max  began  to  tease  for 
his  favorite  game  of  logomachy  —  generally 
known  in  the  family  as  "  letters."  He  was 
wild  with  delight  to  find  that  Marian  knew 
how  to  play  it  and  was  as  fond  of  it  as  he. 

They  accordingly  gathered  around  a  large 
lap-board  of  Mrs.  Wellman's,  which  was  more 
convenient  than  any  table,  and  that  lady  her 
self  came  in  to  participate  in  the  game. 

And  after  two  hardly-fought  games  —  the 
first  won  by  Marian,  the  second  by  Max  - 
they  all  went  to  bed  in  high  spirits.  Max 
was  especially  delighted  to  find  that  the  new 
cousin,  girl  though  she  was,  was  fond  of  his 
pet  game.  Now  he  would  have  somebody  to 
play  it  with  him,  he  thought,  when,  as  often 
happened,  the  older  boys  wouldn't  and  his 
mother  couldn't.  Val,  to  be  sure,  was  always 
ready,  but  as  he  could  not  spell  anything  but 


CHARLIE  IS  WON  OVEJt.  37 

two  or  three  words  like  "  cat "  and  "  dog," 
playing  with  him  was  not  the  most  exciting 
thing  in  the  world. 

Marian's  brown  eyes  shone  with  pleasure 
at  the  grateful  look  which  Max  cast  upon  her 
as  he  said  good-night,  but  after  he  had  dis 
appeared  from  the  room,  she  was  glad  to 
change  the  subject  of  the  kitten's  rescue, 
which  she  fancied  seemed  a  trifle  distasteful 
to  the  older  boys,  by  asking  them  if  they 
knew  how  to  swim. 

"  O,  yes ! "  replied  Charles  eagerl}r. 
"  There's  a  fine  deep  place  in  the  river,  not 
far  from  the  village,  where  there  isn't  any 
eddy  nor  under-current,  nor  any  such  thing 
to  alarm  mamma,  so  she  lets  us  go  down 
there  every  warm  day  and  stay  in  twenty 
minutes." 

"  Which  frequently  runs  over  into  a  half- 
liour  or  more,"  remarked  his  mother. 

"  O,  mamma !  You're  too  hard  on  us," 
laughed  Charles,  in  some  embarrassment;  "it's 
generally  twenty  minutes,  just,  isn't  it,  Kirk?" 

"  To  a  second,"  asserted  Kirk  positively. 

"  But  it's  quite  a  walk  down  there,"  pro 
ceeded  Charles,  not  anxious,  evidently,  to 
linger  on  the  subject  of  time. 


452G01 


38  CHAP  LIE  IS  WON  OVER. 

"  I  don't  know  that  you  would  care  to  have 
me  go  with  you,  would  you  ?  *'  asked  Marian 
timidly.  "Perhaps  the  girls  here  don't  swim 
much,  do  they  ?  " 

Kirk  gave  a  low  groan,  which  Charles  was 
so  ashamed  of  that  he  hastened  to  answer 
politely :  "  No ;  the  girls  here  don't  go  in 
much,  but  I  don't  see  why  you  shouldn't  go 
with  us,  if  you  like.  The  place  we  swim  in 
isn't  very  long,  but  there's  plenty  of  room  for 
several  people.  It  is  deep,  though.  You 
wouldn't  be  afraid,  I  suppose?  " 

"  O,  no  !  I've  known  how  to  swim  ever 
since  I  could  remember.  My  father  taught 
me  when  I  wasn't  more  than  a  baby." 

Charles  could  not  help  a  little  glow  of 
amusement  at  Kirk's  expression  when  Marian 
said  this.  His  jaw  dropped,  and  his  eyes 
grew  very  round  and  incredulous,  but  he 
didn't  dare  to  say  a  word. 

k*If  it  is  a  good  day  to-morrow,  we'll 
all  go  down,"  went  on  Charles  cordially. 
"•  Mamma's  friend,  Mrs.  Warren,  lives  close 
by,  and  you  can  put  on  your  bathing-suit  at 
her  house.  It  will  be  just  as  convenient  as 
it  can  be,  and  I  know  Mrs.  Warren  would  be 
glad  to  have  her,  wouldn't  she,  mamma?  " 


CHARLIE  IS  WON  O  VEIL  39 

"  She  would  be  delighted,  I  am  sure,"  as 
sented  Mrs.  Curry,  who  was  charmed  with 
the  turn  which  affairs  were  taking. 

"  How  nice  !  "  murmured  Marian. 

u  I'll  see  if  we  can  have  Old  Hundred," 
went  on  Charles,  a  slight  air  of  martyrdom 
creeping  over  him. 

"  What  for  ?  "  asked  Marian. 

"  Oh !  of  course,  you  wouldn't  want  to 
walk  'way  down  there,  just  as  you  were  going 
in  swimming." 

u  I  don't  know  why,"  laughed  Marian,  with 
some  spirit,  "I  am  a  famous  walker.  How 
far  is  it?" 

44  It  ih  two  miles  —  easy  enough  to  go  down, 
but  a  hard  climb  coming  back.  Mamma 
doesn't  mind  it,  but  none  of  the  other  women 
around  here  ever  think  of  walking  it." 

44  Two  miles  !  "  exclaimed  Marian,  "  I 
thought  it  must  be  ten  or  twelve  by  the  way 
you  spoke.  I  don't  mind  two  miles  in  the 
least,  and  the  climb  back  will  warm  us  up 
after  our  bath." 

Kirk  winced  very  hard  at  this  ;  even  Charles 
could  hardly  believe  that  Marian  was  sincere. 

"  You  see  there  are  only  two  horses  on  the 
place  here,"  he  went  on,  still  under  this 


40  CHARLIE  IS  WON  0  VER. 

impression.  "  One  of  them  goes  splendidly. 
That's  Put ;  so  called  because  of  his  color, 
which  is  exactly  that  of  putty.  Put  is  sel 
dom  at  our  disposal,  because  he  has  to  do 
most  of  the  farmwork.  The  other  horse  is 
Old  Hundred.  You  won't  need  to  have  his 
name  explained  after  you  have  had  one  ride 
after  him.  He  stumbles  dreadfully,  too,  and 
falls  down  at  all  sorts  of  odd  times.  We  can 
generally  have  him,  but  we  don't  generally 
want  him.  Still  he  can  take  us  down  to  the 
river  well  enough." 

"But,  really,  Charlie,  I'd  rather  walk," 
insisted  Marian. 

"  But  I  cannot  allow  you  to  overdo,  my 
dear,"  remonstrated  her  aunt  gently.  "I  am 
going  to  be  very  careful  of  you,  and  it  seems 
to  me  that  perhaps  you  had  better  drive  when 
you  are  going  to  have  a  swim,  for,  as  Charles 
says,  a  lively  swim  is  somewhat  exhausting." 

"  Oh !  you  needn't  worry  in  the  least," 
cried  Marian,  with  very  bright  eyes.  "  I  am 
used  to  taking  good  care  of  myself  —  you 
know  how  particular  papa  was  about  all  mat 
ters  pertaining  to  health,  and  he  has  brought 
me  up  to  be  very,  very  careful.  That  is  the 
reason  why  I  am  so  well.  Just  think,  I  have 


CHARLIE  IS  WON  OVER.  41 

never  been  really  ill  in  my  life.  I  won't 
overdo,  truly ;  you  can  trust  me  safely. 
Why,  papa  and  I  used  to  walk  ten  or  twelve 
miles  often,  and  I  make  nothing  of  four  or 
five.  And  I  swim  without  any  effort.  Papa 
always  said  that  I  was  half  a  mermaid,  and  I 
believe  I  am.  I  know  I  have  grown  fast  dur 
ing  the  last  two  years,  and  that  when  one  is 
growing  one  should  be  uncommonly  careful ; 
so  I  have  tried  to  be.  I  judge  that  Charlie 
has  had  that  caution  drummed  into  him,  too." 

"  Yes,  I  have,"  admitted  Charles  ;  "I  think 
I  am  a  little  taller  than  you." 

They  stood  up  and  measured,  and  found 
that  Charles,  though  he  was  five  feet  ten, 
was  less  than  half  a  head  taller  than  his  new 
cousin.  However,  he  was  a  year  older. 

"  I  do  hope  I  have  finished  growing  now," 
laughed  Marian.  "It  is  well  enough  for  you, 
Charlie.  Men  can  afford  to  be  tall,  but  if  I 
keep  on  any  longer  I  shall  be  what  we  call 
out  in  California  a  'spook.' " 

"  Oh !  it  is  nice  to  be  tall,"  said  Charles. 
"  One  can  reach  things,  and  then  people  do 
not  impose  quite  so  much  on  tall  people  as 
they  do  on  short  ones,  who  can't  help  them- 
selves." 


42  CHARLIE  IS  WON  OVER. 

"  Very  true,"  sighed  Mrs.  Curry,  \vho  \v;\a  f 
short. 

"•  Oil !  we  will  have  no  end  of  a  good  time,'' 
said  Marian  gayly,  as  they  sat  down  again. 
"  You  can't  think  how  pleasant  it  is  for  me 
to  have  some  cousins  to  play  with.  Uncle 
William  hasn't  any  children,  you  know,  and 
I  haven't  had  many  playmates.  Out  on  the 
ranch  there  wasn't  anybody,  unless  I  took 
out  some  of  my  girl-friends  from  town.  I 
don't  know  anything  about  plaving  with 
boys." 

"And  we  have  never  had  a  girl  to  play 
with,''  said  Charles. 

They  all  laughed,  even  Kirk  giving  a  me 
chanical  giggle,  and  presently  they  separated 
for  the  night.  Mrs.  Curry  felt  greatly  pleased 
with  the  manner  in  which  her  new  niece  had 
conducted  herself  on  this  first  afternoon. 

"  She  is  a  sweet  girl,  I  can  see,"  she  wrote 
to  her  husband,  "  and  the  boys'  prejudices 
must  give  way,  if  she  keeps  on  as  she  has  be 
gun.  They  were  afraid  that  she  was  going 
to  be  so  sad  after  all  the  trouble  she  has  been 
through,  that  she  would  cast  a  gloom  over 
everything,  but  she  is  really  very  cheerful. 
Her  face  is  sad  when  she  is  not  interested  in 


CUAttLlE  IS    WON   OVER.  43 

anything,  but  I  can  see  that  she  is  battling 
bravely  with  her  grief.  She  is  a  noble,  whole 
some,  sweet-souled  girl.  The  boys,  even  our 
naughty,  obstinate  little  Kirk,  must  come  to 
love  her." 

But  she  sighed  after  she  had  written  these 
words,  and  turned  out  the  light ;  for  she  knew 
that  there  was  sure  to  be  a  struggle  before 
Kirk  ever  gave  up  anything  on  which  he  had 
once  taken  issue. 

The  next  morning  Mrs.  Curry  heard  voices 
outside  of  her  window  as  she  was  dressing 
herself  and  Val.  Glancing  between  her  shut 
ters,  she  found  that  they  belonged  to  Marian 
and  Max.  Max  was  an  incorrigibly  early 
riser,  and  had  probably  been  up  for  two  hours 
already,  though  it  was  now  only  seven 
o'clock.  Mrs.  Curry  was  glad  to  think  that 
Marian  shared  his  taste  in  this  respect,  for 
it  would  be  a  new  bond  between  them.  The 
affair  of  the  kitten  had  already  won  Max's 
favor.  If  he  and  Charles  could  but  become 
attached  to  the  new  cousin,  she  could  not 
help  hoping  that  Kirk  would  follow  in  time. 
Val  was  sure  to  love  her,  if  she  continued  to 
be  the  gentle  and  affectionate  girl  that  she 
had  so  far  appeared  to  l>e. 


44  CHARLIE  IS   WON  OVER. 

As  the  voices  of  the  young  people  were 
just  beneath  her  window,  Mrs.  Curry  could 
not  help  overhearing  what  they  said.  Max 
was  holding  his  precious  kitty  and  was  de 
scribing  his  hens  to  Marian,  who  was  listen 
ing  to  his  remarks  with  flattering  interest. 

k'  This  one  here's  the  only  Plymouth  Rock 
I've  got,"  he  was  saying.  "  She's  splendid 
to  bring  up  chicks,  but  she  isn't  so  good  a 
layer  as  that  big  Wyandotte  there.  She's  a 
dandy  ;  lays  every  day  as  regular's  a  clock. 
It  don't  seem  as  if  she  could  keep  on  that 
way  all  summer,  but  maybe  she  will.  She 
hasn't  skipped  more'n  two  or  three  days  since 
we  came  here,  and  it's  three  weeks  now.  She 
lays  quick,  too.  It  don't  take  her  more'n 
fifteen  minutes  ever  to  lay  her  egg.  I  often 
see  her  go  on  her  nest,  an'  then  I  hang  around 
and  wait  for  her  to  come  off.  'Tain't  ever 
more'n  fifteen  minutes.  Some  of  them 
dawdle  awfully.  It  takes  that  old  yellow 
liiddy  there  an  hour  or  two  to  lay  her  egg, 
an'  when  she's  done  with  it,  'tisn't  anything 
but  a  kind  o'  Banty  egg,  's  you  might  sav. 
She  lays  the  littlest  eggs  you  ever  saw  for 
such  a  big  hen  ;  an'  to  think  she  takes  such 
an  awful  time  to  do  it !  Wh}',  one  day  I 


CHARLIE  IS   WON  OVER.  45 

waited  an'  waited  for  her,  sitting  out  on  the 
stone  wall  there  —  Charcoal  an'  me  —  an' 
mamma  came  out  to  see  where  I  was,  an' 
Charcoal  an'  me  was  both  of  us  fast  asleep." 
Charles  had  not  yet  appeared,  and  Max 
was  indulging  in  his  favorite  idioms  to  his 

o       o 

heart's  content. 

Marian's  interest  was  so  manifest,  and  Max 
was  so  charmed  to  find  anybody  who  would 
listen  to  him  that  he  went  on. 

"  This  is  my  Corn-barrel  hen,"  he  remarked 
gravely.  "She's  a  mixed  breed,  and  cross  as 
cross  !  My  !  You  jest  oughter  to  see  how 
cross  she  is.  But  you'll  prob'ly  see  her 
fightin'  any  time  now.  She'd  rather  fight 
than  eat  her  supper.  I  have  all  that  I  can 
do  to  keep  her  from  pecking  out  the  other 
chicks'  eyes." 

Max  sighed  with  a  sense  of  his  responsi 
bilities. 

"  I  call  her  the  Corn-barrel  hen,"  he  con 
tinued  presently,  "  because  she's  forever 
perching  on  the  edge  of  the  corn-barrel. 
She's  smart,  an'  she  knows  the  corn's  there, 
an'  T  s'pose  she  keeps  hoping  that  some  day 
I'll  leave  the  top  off  so't  she  can  get  all  the 
corn  she  wants,  but  she  ain't  caught  me  yet. 


46  CHARLIE  1H    WON  OVER. 

These  are  my  new  little  chicks"  —as  a  troop 
of  little  yellow  balls  came  fluttering  by  —  "I 
hatched  'em  myself  ;  that  is,  I  stood  right  by 
an'  saw  'em  come  out  of  the  shells,  an'  every 
thing.  I  didn't  hardly  stop  to  eat  a  thing  all 
that  day." 

"  Max,"  cried  Charles,  thrusting  his  head 
out  of  an  upper  window,  to  the  confusion  of 
his  unsuspecting  little  brother,  u  I've  told 
you  and  told  you  that  you  mustn't  say 
'  ain't '  and  '  hain't '  but  I've  stood  them  this 
morning  quite  patiently.  You  sha'n't  say 
4  didn't  hardly,'  though!  Now  I  mean  it. 
You  sha'n't !  " 

"  O,  my  ! "  laughed  the  good  natured  little 
boy,  looking  up  at  his  brother,  while  Marian 
almost  choked  herself  with  giggling,  "I  didn't 
know  you  was  there.  I  wasn't  being  a  mite 
careful." 

" '  You  was ! '  There's  another,"  groaned 
diaries. 

"  Well,  maybe  after  I've  had  breakfast  I 
can  talk  better  grammar,"  said  Max  encourag 
ingly.  Somehow,  he  couldn't  be  made  to  see 
the  enormity  of  his  sins  in  the  line  of  bad 
grammar. 

Charles   drew   in    his    head   and   slammed 


CHARLIE  IS    WON  OVER.  47 

down  his  window,  so  that  his  nerves  should 
not  be  further  irritated  by  Max's  maltreat 
ment  of  his  mother  tongue,  while  that  un 
ruffled  young  man  went  on  placidly  elucidat 
ing  to  Marian  the  beauties  and  virtues  of  his 
flock  of  hens. 

"  I  scold  'em  an'  scold  'em,"  lie  declared, 
"  an'  then  again  I  praise  'em  an'  praise  'em. 
Mamma  says  praisin'  boys  does  'em  more 
good  than  scoldin'  'em,  but  I  don't  see  as  it 
makes  much  difference  with  hens." 

"  Oh !  you  talk  to  them,  do  you  ?  "  said 
Marian,  putting  out  her  arms  to  Val,  who, 
fresh  and  sweet  from  his  bath,  came  smiling 
out  at  that  moment  to  wish  them  good- 
morning. 

"  Of  course  I  do,"  replied  Max,  with  some 
contempt.  "  They  understand  a  lot  more'n 
you'd  think.  I  believe  they  understand  every 
word  that  I  say.  They  roll  up  their  eyes  and 
sorter  growl  at  some  things,  in  the  queerest 
way  you  ever  saw.  My  tame  hen  now  — • 
there  she  is ;  come  here,  Wudge." 

A  staid  Biddy  came  waddling  up  evidently 
expecting  a  substantial  reward  for  her  docility, 
and  much  offended  when,  after  waiting  a 
moment,  she  failed  to  receive  it. 


48  CHARLIE  IS   WON  OVER. 

"What  do  you  call  her  '  Wudge  '  for?" 
asked  Marian. 

"Oh!  she  sorter  looks  as  if  that  oughter 
be  her  name  —  don't  you  think  so  ?  " 

Marian  laughed. 

"  I  don't  know  but  she  does,"  she  admitted. 
"  I'm  sure  I  never  thought  there  was  so  much 
character  in  a  flock  of  hens  before,  Max,  but 
I  presume  it's  all  as  you  say.  I've  kept  hens 
out  on  the  ranch  at  home  all  my  life,  but  I 
just  fed  them  and  got  their  eggs,  and  all  that. 
I  never  talked  to  them  and  studied  their  in 
dividual  natures,  as  you  seem  to." 

"  Didn't  you  put  kerosene  on  their  roosts, 
and  give  'em  oyster  shells  and  such  things?" 
inquired  Max  reprovingly. 

"•  (),  yes  I  I  took  care  of  their  bodies  ac 
cording  to  the  best  rules  I  had,  but  I'm  afiaid 
I  never  gave  them  credit  for  having  any 
minds  and  souls,  as  you  do." 

"Souls!  "  cried  Max  warmly  ;  "they've  got 
souls  as  much  as  folks  have.  They  would 
know  as  much,  too,  if  they  could  only  go  to 
school.  But  some  of  'em  is  brighter  an'  some 
of  'em  is  stupider,  like  l>oys.  They're  jest  as 
different!  They  ain't  no  two  of  'em  alike." 

"  Max  !  '  exclaimed   Charles,  bursting    ex- 


CHARLIE  IS    WON  OVER.  49 

citedly  upon  the  scene,  "  I'm  going  to  ask 
mamma  to  stop  your  talking  about  hens  —  at 
least  until  you  learn  to  talk  right.  Your 
grammar  is  never  so  bad  as  when  you  talk 
about  hens,  and  I  know  why.  It  is  because 
you  talk  hens  so  much  with  that  Mellows 
boy,  and  he  can't  put  two  words  together 
right." 

They  all  laughed  until  the  frown  on 
Charlie's  brow  abated  somewhat.  His  bal 
ance  was  presently  restored  entirely  by  the 
ringing  of  the  breakfast-bell. 

After  breakfast  they  had  a  game  of  cro 
quet,  in  which  Marian  and  Max  beat  Charles 
and  Kirk.  Kirk  had  hitherto  figured  as  the 
champion  croquet-player,  but  when  he  saw 
Marian's  good  planning  and  straight  shots, 
he  felt  a  new  respect  for  girls,  and  especially 
for  "that  Mary  Ann." 

The  game  finished,  Marian  came  into  the 
house  at  Charlie's  request,  and  sat  down  to 
examine  his  precious  beetles.  Charles  was  a 
student  and  a  book-worm,  though  he  was 
fond  also  of  out-door  sports,  and  the  combina 
tion  of  the  two,  as  it  were,  in  the  collecting 
of  beetles,  was  his  especial  delight. 

"  It  is  good  in  you  to  be  interested  in  my 


50  CHARLIE  IS    WON  OVER. 

bugs,  Cousin  Marian,''  he  said  feelingly. 
"  Most  people  think  it  is  a  regular  bore  to 
look  at  them." 

"  Oh  !  I  am  always  interested  in  such 
things,"  rejoined  Marian.  "I  made  a  pretty 
fair  collection  of;  our  California  butterflies 
once,  but  I  don't  know  anything  about  other 
kinds  of  collecting.  I  want  to  learn,  though, 
and  I'm  interested  in  everything  more  than 
usual  just  now,  you  know,  Charlie,  for  I 
must  keep  thinking  hard  or  else  I  get  to  cry 
ing.  That  would  make  you  blue,  and  make 
me  just  sick,  and  my  father  would  think  I 
was  inexcusable  for  doing  it.  I  don't  mean 
to  brood  over  my  trouble  one  minute,  if  I  can 
help  it." 

Her  voice  nearly  broke  as  she  uttered  these 
brave  words,  and  Charlie's  near-sighted  eyes 
glowed  with  sympathy,  though  he  could  only 
murmur  a  few  vague  words  to  show  his  feel 
ing.  They  were  so  sincere,  however,  that 
they  answered  the  purpose  better,  perhaps, 
than  the  most  eloquent  periods  might  have 
done  without  so  much  heart  behind  them, 
and  Marian  hastened  to  add,  "  So  go  ahead 
and  show  me  your  bugs,  and  don't  mind  if 
you  find  me  pretty  stupid." 


CHARLIE  IS    WON  OVER.  53 

Such  encouragement  was  sufficient  to  make 
Charles  open  box  after  box,  so  redolent  of 
naphtholine  that  Marian  had  to  cough  again 
and  again,  but  she  admired. to  his  heart's  con 
tent  the  boxes,  neatly  lined  with  cork,  and 
containing  row  after  row  of  insect-pins,  each 
one  impaling  its  beetle,  and  many  of  them 
already  named  and  classified. 

"This  one  is  a  Chauliognathus  Pennsylva- 
nicus,  and  this  is  a  Macrodactylus  Subspi- 
nosus.  This  beauty  here  is  the  Chrysobothris 
Harris!!  —  a  splendid  specimen  —  and  these 
are  the  Phyllodecta  Vulgatissima,  Galeruca 
Rufosanguinea,  Coccinella  Transversoguttata, 
and  Corymbites  Hieroglyphicus.  You  see 
the  longer  the  names,  generally,  the  smaller 
the  beetles.  This  one  is  very  rare,  and  is  for 

my  friend,  Mr.  B ,  the  curator  of  the 

Museum.  If  you  should  happen  to  see  one 
like  this  when  you  are  out,  I  hope  you  will 
save  it  for  me." 

"  Oh  !  may  I  help  you  collect  ?  "  cried 
Marian. 

"  May  you?  Why,  I  should  take  it  as  the 
greatest  possible  favor  if  you  only  would. 
Nearly  every  boy  and  girl  in  town  has  one  of 
my  little  homeopathic  bottles  in  his  pocket, 


54  CHARLIE  7,S'    H'O.V  OVER. 

for  collecting.  They  have  got  scores  for  me 
since  we  came  here,  and  some  of  them  have 
been  very  valuable,  though  a  good  many  I 
have  had  to  throw  away.  I  don't  tell  them 
that,  though.  It  might  hurt  their  feelings. 
When  you  bring  in  some  little  fellows  in  a 
small  bottle  —  here,  you  may  have  this  one 
—  just  tumble  them  into  this  cyanide  jar 
here;  you  see  there  are  five  or  six  in  there 
now,  and  it  will  make  short  work  witli  them. 
Then  I  put  them  into  this  large  bottle  of 
alcohol  until  I  shall  get  home.  I  used  to 
think  I  must  mount  them  right  away,  but  it 
isn't  the  best  plan.  It  is  too  delicate  a  job  to 
carry  them  home  in  a  trunk  mounted.  I  am 
not  going  to  mount  any  more  than  these  I 
have  shown  you,  this  summer.  The  baggage 
men  make  the  trunks  fly,  you  know,  and  then 
my  precious  bugs  go  helter-skelter.  When  I 
was  younger  than  I  am  now,  my  tears  have 
flowed  freely  upon  opening  my  boxes  after  we 
reached  home  in  the  fall." 

'•  Oh  !  I  don't  believe  you  cried,"  protested 
Marian,  gazing  with  admiring  eyes  upon  her 
big  cousin. 

"  Oh  !  I  dpn't  cry  often  ;  not  as  often  as 
Max,  for  example,"  laughed  Charles  ;  "  and 


CHARLIE  13   WON  OVER.  55 

of  course  I  never  expect  to  cry  again,  since  I 
haven't  for  two  or  three  years  now  ;  but  it  is 
trying  to  find  your  dearest  possessions  re 
duced  to  pi,  as  I  found  my  bugs,  some  of 
them,  on  getting  home  last  summer.  Ask 
Kirk,"  he  continued,  as  that  young  man  ap 
peared  in  the  doorway,  "  if  I  didn't  look 
pretty  mad?  —  but  my  language  wasn't  so 
bad  as  you  might  think  from  the  provo 
cation." 

"  Kirk  never  cries,  of  course." 

"  Not  unless  he  gets  too  awfully  provoked 
with  Max  or  Val." 

"  What's  that  ? "  asked  Kirk,  pricking  np 
ears  as  he  heard  his  name  spoken. 

"  Oh  !  nothing,  nothing,"  said  Charles. 

"Nothing?  Tell  that  to  the  marines!" 
exclaimed  Kirk  incredulously.  "  I  heard  my 
name." 

"  Charlie  was  just  saying  that  you  were 
very  manly  and  had  much  self-control,  or 
words  to  that  effect,"  explained  Marian 
sweetly. 

"•  I  guess  so  !  "  cried  Kirk,  now  looking 
fairly  savage,  and  growing  more  and  more 
suspicious  as  lie  gazed  from  one  of  them  to 
tlio  other.  u  That  Mary  Ann  "  had  evidently 


56  CIIAI1L1E   7,S'    U'O.V  OVER. 

been  making  rapid  progress  in  Charlie's  good 
graces,  by  admiring  his  precious  bugs.  Kirk 
had  little  regard  for  beetles,  and  he  felt  less 
than  ever  now.  In  his  naughty,  jealous  little 
soul  he  was  thinking  that  Charles  ought  to 
see  that  all  this  scheming  girl  wanted  was  to 
worm  herself  into  his  confidence.  Girls  were 
always  plotting  to  make  people  like  them. 
He  had  read  about  them,  and  hadn't  he  seen 
them  at  school  with  their  prim,  mincing  little 
ways,  and  their  transparent  little  hypocrisies, 
trying  to  get  into  the  favor  of  the  teachers, 
and  then  talking  all  manner  of  treason  about 
them  behind  their  backs  ? 

These  very  discreditable  thoughts  passed 
swiftly  through  Kirk's  mind  as  lie  stood 
looking  at  Charles  and  Marian,  and  he  made 
up  his  mind  that  his  new  cousin  was  stealing 
his  brother's  affections  away  from  himself. 
For  an  instant  he  hated  her.  lie  turned 
sharply  to  Charles,  rankling  under  Marian's 
innocent  little -joke,  which  she  had  expected 
him  to  enjoy  as  much  as  Charles  and  herself, 
and  said  curtly  :  "  I  came  in  to  see  if  you 
cared  to  come  out  and  have  a  game  of  ball 
with  Fred  Houston  and  the  Mellows  boy  and 
Max  and  me,  but  probably  you'd  rather  moon 


CHARLIE  IS   WON  OVER.  57 

around  over  your  bugs,  and  enjoy  yourself 
with  talking  good  grammar  with  the  girls  ; 
so  I'll  go  along." 

With  this  cutting  remark,  Kirk  turned  on 
his  heel  and  inarched  off  as  fast  as  he  could. 

"If  you'll  excuse  me,  Cousin  Marian,  I 
think  111  go,"  began  Charles  hastily,  and 
flushing  very  red. 

"  O,  yes  !  go,  by  all  means.  I'll  put  every 
thing  away  neatly  ;  go  !  " 

Marian  nervously  half-pushed  him  toward 
the  door,  where  he  caught  up  his  hat  and  \vas 
soon  close  upon  Kirk,  to  whom  Marian  knew 
that  he  was  giving  "  a  piece  of  his  mind," 
though  she  could  not  distinguish  his  words ; 
indeed,  she  tried  to  busy  herself  about  the 
room  and  thus  lose  the  sound  of  the  angry 
boyish  voices. 

"  You  little  spit-fire ! "  Charles  was  vocifer 
ating,  "  you  talk  to  me  that  way  again,  and 
I'll  punch  your  head — I  will  now,  you  see. 
Right  before  Marian,  too.  You  ought  to  be 
spanked,  you  contemptible  little  wasp,  you." 

"  Oh  !  Mary  Ann  can  stand  it,  I  guess," 
blurted  Kirk  insolently.  "  She's  as  good  a 
boy  as  any  of  us.  She's  what  I  call  a  regular 
tomboy." 


58  CIIARL1E  IS   WON  OVER. 

"She's  just  as  ladylike  as  she  can  be,  you 
little  rascal ! "  shrieked  Charles,  now  warmed 
to  the  striking  point ;  but  Kirk  hurled  back 
a  derisive  laugh  at  him  from  a  big  rock  a  rod 
or  more  away,  where  he  had  judiciously  estal>- 
lished  himself,  and  at  just  that  moment  Fred 
Houston,  who  was  the  son  of  a  neighboring 
farmer,  and  just  about  Kirk's  age,  came  up 
with  the  Mellows  boy  aild  Max,  and  in  the 
activities  of  a  good  game  of  ball,  Charles, 
who  was  of  an  almost  too  forgiving  dispo 
sition,  soon  recovered  from  his  desire  to  visit 
condign  punishment  upon  his  brother. 

On  the  following  day  Mr.  Curry  came  up 
from  the  city  to  spend  a  da}-  or  two.  It  had 
been  planned  that  he  and  Mrs.  Curry  and 
Val  were  to  drive  over  to  an  adjacent  town 
on  this  Saturday  afternoon,  and  spend  Sun 
day  with  some  old  friends.  They  were  to 
bike  Put,  and  were  to  return  on  Monday 
afternoon.  Marian  insisted  that  this  scheme 
should  be  carried  out,  though  she  had  so  re 
cently  arrived.  She  felt  quite  at  home,  she 
said,  arid  she  knew  the  boys  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wellman  would  take  good  care  of  her  ; 
so  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Curry  proceeded  with  their 
preparations  to  depart  at  the  appointed  time. 


CHARLIE  IS    WON  OVER.  59 

They  started  just  after  dinner  on  Saturday, 
as  they  had  fully  fifteen  miles  to  ride.     Mr. 
Wellman  saw  them  off,  and  then,  as  he  had 
lately  been  hindered  by  a  good  many  showery 
days  from  getting  in  his  hay,  he  hurried  at 
once  to  the  distant  meadow  where  his  work 
lay.     Joe,  the  hired  man,  was  mending  a  rake 
in  the  barn,  but  was  to  follow  Mr.  Wellman 
as  soon  as  his  job  was  done.     Mrs.  Wellman, 
seeing   Inez,  the    maid,  well  started  on    her 
afternoon  duties,  went  over  to   Mrs.  Hous 
ton's  to  help  that  lady  "  tie  a  comfortable." 
Charles  and   Kirk  sat  in  a  hammock  which 
was- suspended  from  the  boughs  of  a  spread 
ing  butternut-tree  which  shaded  the  croquet 
ground.     They  were  swinging  hard  and  alter 
nately  laughing  and  squabbling  as   they  dis 
cussed  an  offer  which  Mr.  Wellman  had  just 
made  them  to  go  up  in  the  "  Parker  lot "  and 
help    him  "hay,"  for   seven    cents  an   hour. 
Max:  sat  on  a  barrel  which   overlooked  the 
hen-yard.     He  had  his   beloved  Charcoal  in 
his  arms,  as  usual.     Marian  had  her  portfolio 
and  her  fountain  pen,  and  was  sitting  on  the 
broad  doorstone  writing  letters,  and  stopping 
now  and    then  to    listen   to    the    boys'  silly 
remarks. 


60  ClIAHLIE  IS    W0.\  OVER. 

"What  are  you  laughing  at,  boys?"  she 
called,  as  a  louder  peal  of  laughter  than  usual 
greeted  a  mumbled  story  of  Kirk's. 

"Oh!  nothing  much,"  explained  Charles. 
scarcely  able  to  speak  for  giggling.  "He 
was  only  telling  me,  apropos  of  a  hit  which  I 
just  gave  him,  that  one  of  the  boys  in  his 
class  was  asked  to  compare  'ill,'  and  he  com 
pared  it  —  O,  goodness  !  "  —  .Charles  went  off 
again  into  spasms  of  laughter —  "  really  did, 
Cousin  Marian,  'ill,  sick,  dead.'  Just  think 
of  that." 

Marian  laughed,  too. 

"I'm  so  glad  it  wasn't  a  girl  who  did  it," 
she  exclaimed  mischievously,  and  fixing  her 
bright  brown  eyes  on  Kirk.  It  hadn't  taken 
her  long  to  ascertain  Kirk's  views  on  the  sul>- 
ject  of  girls. 

"  O,  my  ;  girls  ! "  sniffed  Kirk,  eagerly 
catching  up  the  gage  of  battle  ;  "  our  teacher 
told  us  a  worse  story  than  that  about  a  girl. 
It  was  one  of  her  classmates  at  the  Normal 
School,  who  had  almost  graduated.  The 
principal  asked  her  what  that  science  was 
that  treated  of  our  relations  to  God  and  to 
our  fellowmen,  and  she  drawled  out,  'Higher 
mathematics.' ' 


CHAltLIE  IS    WON   OVER.  01 

"  That  was  pretty  bad,"  admitted  Marian, 
"  but  it  wasn't  any  sillier  than  the  doings  of 
a  young-  sprig  of  the  English  aristocracy  who 
had  a  ranch  near  ours  in  California.  He  was 
out  one  day  driving  his  own  oxen,  and  he 
couldn't  remember,  to  save  him,  just  what 
'  haw  '  and  '  gee '  meant,  so  he  would  say 
'  haw '  at  the  wrong  time,  and  then  he  would 
politely  remark,  'Beg  pardon,  I  mean  gee.' 
And  he  was  a  boy  —  and  a  grown-up  boy  at 
that.  And,"  continued  Marian,  pleased  to 
see  that  she  was  amusing  Kirk,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  her  stories  were  at  the  expense 
of  his  own  much-vaunted  sex,  "  that  same 
young  man  told  one  of  my  friends  that  al 
though  'he  could  not  tell  one  note  from  an 
other  himself,  he  had  a  sister  who  sang 
beautifully.  My  friend  asked  what  kind  of 
a  voice  she  had,  meaning  of  course  whether 
she  had  a  soprano  or  an  alto  voice,  and  he 
said  he  couldn't  be  sure,  but  he  believed  it 
was  tenor." 

The  boys,  who  had  both  of  them  been 
pretty  well  drilled  in  music,  laughed,  but 
Charles  presently  recovered  himself  enough 
to  remember  that  Mr.  Wellman  would  really 
like  some  help  about  his  haying. 


C2  CHARLIE  IS    WON  OVER. 

"  This  is  great  fun,  sitting  here  giggling, 
you  lazy  Kirk,  you.  But  as  Napoleon  or 
somebody  else  said,  it  isn't  war.  Jf  we  are 
going  up  to  the  Parker  lot,  why,  we  ought 
to  get  along.  I  think  Mr.  Wellman  wants 
us,  and  that  we  ought  to  go." 

Kirk  replied  by  turning  comfortabl\r  over 
in  the  hammock,  and  placing  his  heavily-shod 
feet  on  top  of  his  brother's  head.  After  the 
pommeling  and  shouting  consequent  upon 
this  proceeding  had  somewhat  died  away, 
Charles  remarked  that  he  had  got  to  buy  a 
lot  more  of  insect-pins  and  sheet-cork,  and 
that  every  little  seven  cents  would  help  to 
purchase  these  commodities.  He  accordingly 
announced  his  intention  of  repairing*  at  once 
to  the  hay-field. 

Kirk  evidently  came  to  a  similar  conclusion 
presently,  for  after  gathering  himself  up,  and 
then  stretching  himself  out  several  times  in  a 
most  luxurious  manner,  lie  finally  scrambled 
out  of  the  hammock  and  went  tearing  after 
Charles,  calling  out,  '•  Wait,  you,  Charlie,  I 
say !  Wait,  you  mean  boy,  I  say  ! "  while 
Max.  incited  by  their  example,  dropped  his 
kitty  and  followed  on,  creating  a  sudden 
breeze  of  cackles  by  his  sudden  movements. 


CHARLIE  IS    WON  OVER.  63 

The  goal  of  his  ambition  was  no  higher  than 
lime-juice  drops,  but  he  wanted  them  as  much 
as  Charles  wanted  his  insect-pins. 

The  noise  of  their  voices  gradually  sub 
sided  in  the  distance,  and  Marian  wrote 
rapidly  along  on  her  comfortable  perch.  A 
sudden  noise  in  the  barn  made  her  look  up. 
A  moment  later  the  boys  saw  a  pale-faced 
girl,  with  her  eyes  blazing  and  her  braids  fly 
ing,  rushing  up  the  road  after  them. 

"  Boys  !  "  she  shrieked  breathlessly,  "  come 
quick  !  Max,  you  go  and  call  Mr.  Wellman  ! 
The  barn  is  on  fire  !  " 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

THE  boys  never  knew  how  they  got  clown 
the  hill,  but  the  barn  was  standing  all  solid 
and  safe  apparently  when  they  caught  sight 
of  it.  They  felt  as  though  Marian  must 
have  made  some  mistake,  but  as  the}'  drew 
nearer,  they  detected  smoke  issuing  from  a 
little  door  underneath  it.  Presently  they 
saw  Joe  racing  excitedly  back  and  forth 
between  the  cistern  in  the  barnyard  and  the 
barn  with  pails  of  water,  which,  as  nearly  as 
they  could  judge,  he  was  spilling  mostly  on 
the  way. 

"  The  cows  are  in  the  pasture,"  Marian 
was  saying,  u  and  Put  and  the  carriage  are 
away.  That's  lucky."  Her  teeth  were  chat 
tering  and  her  voice  was  strained  and  un 
natural,  but  her  head  was  evidently  quite 
04 


THE  GIUL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      65 

clear.  "  The  farm  wagons,  though,  are 
Under  the  shed,  and  Old  Hundred  ought  to 
be  led  out  and  tied  tight  somewhere.  Fling 
off  your  coats,  boys"  —she  was  pinning  up 
her  gown  as  she  spoke  —  "and  we'll  go  right 
to  work.  Charlie,  you  had  better  help  Joe 
throNv  on  water,  and,  Kirk,  you  had  better 
back  out  the  wagons  and  get  Old  Hundred 
out.  It  looked  to  me  when  I  started  as 
though  Joe  was  not  going  to  put  out  the  fire, 
but  maybe  he  can,  with  Charlie's  help.  In 
the  meantime,  I  will  go  in  and  get  some 
blankets  to  use  if  the  house  is  threatened. 
One  of  our  barns  burned  down  out  at  the 
ranch  once.  It  was  a  barn  near  the  house,  just 
as  this  is." 

By  this  time  i-hey  were  in  the  thick  of 
things.  The  boys,  without  a  thought  of 
demurring,  were  following  out  Marian's 
directions.  There  was  an  unconscious  power 
about  her  which  they  could  not  help  respect 
ing,  without  knowing  it.  Shudder  after 
shudder  was  passing  over  her  frame,  but  she 
remained  perfectly  firm  and  resolute. 

As  she  came  downstairs,  followed  by  Inez, 
both  of  them  witli  their  arms  full  of  blankets, 
Charles  met  them  at  the  door.  He  had  for- 


06      THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

gotten  all  of  his  brave  words  about  shedding 
tears,  and  he  was  crying  like  a  baby,  with  the 
excitement  and  fear. 

"It's  no  use,  Marian!"  he  cried.  "The 
fire  is  all  up  in  the  hay.  It's  spreading  like 
all  possessed.  We  can't  stop  it ! "  % 

His  voice  ended  in  a  doleful  wail,  like  the 
f 01  lorn  closing  bellow  of  a  railroad  whistle 
upon  entering  a  tunnel. 

"All  right,"  said  Marian,  as  though  this 
were  the  most  cheerful  news  in  the  world. 
"  It  is  just  what  I  expected.  We  must  let 
the  barn  go.  But  don't  worry.  I  think  I 
know  what  is  best  to  do,  if  we  can  just  work 
together  fast  and  steady.  Tell  Joe  to  get 
out  all  that  he  can  from  the  barn,  with  Kirk 
to  help  him.  They  must  not  run  any  risk  of 
getting  burned,  remember.  Then  we'll  tix 
the  ell-part  here,  or  else  it  will  blaze  up  like 
tinder.  Hurry  out  to  Joe,  and  then  come 
back  and  I'll  dress  you  for  your  work." 

In  less  than  three  minutes,  Charles  had 
passed  the  word  on  to  Joe,  and  Marian  and 
he  were  planning  to  save  the  house.  It  was 
none  too  soon,  for  a  burst  of  flame  had 
already  appeared  from  the  barn  on  the  side 
toward  the  kitchen  ;  and  as  it  was  not  more 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      6T 

than  ten  rods  away,  the  showers  of  sparks 
which  were  already  falling  and  the  intense 
heat,  would  certainly  ignite  the  dry  old 
wooden  walls  of  the  "  ell-part." 

Presently  Marian  had  a  wet  blanket  pinned 
around  Charles  with  safety-pins  in  such  a 
way  that  his  arms  were  free.  She  then 
pinned  a  piece  of  heavy  wet  flannel  around 
his  head  with  holes  cut  in  it  for  peep-holes. 

Then  the  ladder,  which  Kirk  had  just  flung 
out  upon  the  grass,  was  raised  to  the  ell- 
roof,  and  Charles  clambered  up  it  with  his 
arms  full  of  wet  blankets,  while  Marian  and 
Inez  followed  him,  carrying  also  as  many  as 
they  could.  Marian  had  found  several  papers 
of  safety-pins  in  Mrs.  Curry's  room,  and  by 
means  of  these  the  young  people  were  able 
to  adjust  the  blankets  over  the  ridge-pole. 
Astride  of  this  Charles  perched  himself, 
while  Marian  handed  him  up  a  pail  of  water, 
and  Irfcz  followed  with  another  one.  The 
poor  frightened  girl,  completely  upset  by  the 
swiftness  of  Marian's  movements  and  the 
volley  of  directions  which  were  being  given 
her,  fainted  after  handing  up  the  first  pailful, 
but  Marian,  knowing  well  that  such  weak 
ness  would  never  do  just  now,  brought  her 


68      THE  G1IIL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

to  in  an  instant,  by  flinging  some  water  in 
her  face,  and  then  gave  her  such  a  tierce 
scolding  that  the  poor  girl  did  not  dare  to 
faint  again. 

It  was  just  as  she  was  starting  up  for  her 
second  pail  of  water,  still  as  white  as  a  sheet, 
and  all  the  machinery  which  Marian  had 
devised  was  well  in  motion,  that  Mr.  Well- 
man  and  Max  came  racing  from  the  Parker 
lot.  It  was  every  bit  of  a  mile  away,  but 
they  had  run  as  fast  as  their  legs  would 
carry  them.  They  were  dripping  with  per 
spiration,  but  their  faces  were  as  pale  as  that 
of  poor  Inez. 

There  was  no  time  for  talking  or  explana 
tions. 

"  More  water  !  More  water  !  "  Charles 
was  shrieking  from  his  perch  on  the  ridge 
pole,  and  as  Mr.  Wellman  came  up,  a  spray 
from  the  pailful  which  Inez  had  brought,  and 
which  Charles  had  flung  in  all  directions 
over  the  roof,  came  trickling  down  on  his 
head. 

"  That's  a  fine  idea  !  "  said  Mr.  Wellman. 
"  Here,  Max,  hunt  up  all  the  buckets  in  the 
house.  The  men  will  be  coming  from  all 
around  — but  they  can't  save  my  barn  !  " 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      69 

The  good  farmer's  face  twitched  and  his 
voice  trembled  as  he  gazed  upon  the  black 
clouds  of  smoke  rising  from  the  doomed 
building,  and  the  bright  tongues  of  flame 
which  were  shooting  out  against  them  here 
and  there.  The  fire  had  not  been  burning 
twenty  minutes  since  the  first  spark  had 
kindled.  Marian  and  her  little  battalion  had 
worked  fast. 

Max  had  bewilderedly  obeyed  Mr.  Well- 
man's  direction  to  get  all  the  buckets  that  he 
could  find,  and  he  came  running  out  in  front 
with  two  or  three  in  his  hand,  in  a  moment. 
Then  the  realities  of  the  occasion  began  to 
press  upon  him  and  he  appreciated  that  he, 
too,  had  heavy  interests  at  stake. 

"  Where's  my  kitty  ?  "  he  bawled,  begin 
ning  to  cry  at  the  top  of  his  voice.  The 
flames,  which  at  that  moment  burst  through 
the  barn  roof  with  a  crash  of  falling  beams, 
scared  him  almost  to  death,  and  made  him 
feel  as  though  the  universe  were  melting. 
Nobody  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  him, 
and  he  went  on  wailing  all  alone,  under  the 
great  elm-tree,  where  he  had  established  him 
self  for  combined  purposes  of  safety  and  a 
good  view. 


70      TUB  GI11L  WHO  SAVED  TUP:  HOUSE. 

"And  my  Biddies!"  he  sobbed  despair 
ingly.  u  My  Five-toe  hen  was  setting  in  the 
barn!  Oh!  get  her  out!  Get  her  out, 
somebody ! " 

lint  nobody  could  save  the  Five-toe  hen, 
nor  pay  heed  to  the  somewhat  extended 
ravings  in  which  the  frightened  and  bewil 
dered  little  fellow  proceeded  to  indulge. 
lie  succeeded  at  last  in  finding  his  kitty  all 
by  himself,  and  sat  down  at  a  prudent 
remove  to  sooth  Charcoal's  nerves  by  petting 
her,  and  to  enjoy  himself  in  watching  the 
fire,  which  was  now  in  the  height  of  its 
splendor,  and  presented  a  truly  glorious 
spectacle.  Even  the  thought  of  his  hens, 
which  he  mentally  resigned  forever,  as  un 
doubtedly  burned  up,  could  not  prevent  Max 
from  reveling  in  the  sight.  lie  would  weep 
softly  for  a  moment,  murmuring  to  himself, 
"  My  poor  Biddies  !  Oh  !  my  poor  Biddies  !  " 
and  then  he  would  forget  everything  in  some 
more  daz/ling  flash  of  fire,  or  more  thunder 
ous  fall  of  timbers  than  before. 

Marian  found  him  when  he  was  under 
going  these  rapid  alternations  of  dismal  woe 
and  boyish  elation,  and  she  laughs  to  this 
day  whenever  she  thinks  of  it. 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      71 

The  news  of  the  fire  spread  over  the  quiet 
hills,  and  down  into  the  village  in  the  valley, 
almost  as  fast  as  the  fire  itself  spread  in  the 
barn.  The  Wellman  buildings  stood  on  a 
lofty  site,  and  were  visible  for  miles  around. 
Mrs.  Wellman  arrived  on  the  scene  shortly 
after  Mr.  Wellman  and  Max,  and  all  the  men 
came  running  from  the  hay-fields. 

Though  fires  were  not  common  in  this  part 
of  the  country,  nearly  everybody  brought 
buckets  with  them,  having  learned  so  much 
from  even  their  slight  experience  in  such 
matters.  The  spectacle  of  Charles,  envel 
oped  in  steaming  blankets,  and  throwing 
care  fully-aimed  missiles  of  water  here  and 
there  over  the  roof  from  his  advantageous 
post  astride  the  ridge-pole,  excited  great 
merriment. 

Even  when  Mr.  Wellman  came,  it  was,  as 
he  saw  at  once,  unsafe  to  enter  the  barn,  so 
that  all  there  was  to  do  was  to  keep  the  fire 
from  the  house,  and  to  watch  the  work  of 
destruction.  This  occupied  a  full  hour,  for 
the  barn  was  large  and  strongly  built,  and 
there  was  little  wind  to  hasten  the  progress 
of  the  flames. 

"  I've  been  worrying  because  I  hadn't  got 


72      THE  U1RL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

in  more  hay,"  remarked  Mr.  Wellman  whim- 
siciilly,  as  lie  stood  among  a  group  of  his 
sympathizing  neighbors  ;  k*  but  now  I  never 
was  so  glad  of  anything  in  all  my  life." 

"And  Old  Hundred  is  saved  !  "  he  cried,  as 
he  proceeded  to  examine  the  piles  of  stuff 
which  Joe  and  Kirk  had  heaped  up  wildly  at 
the  nearest  point  to  the  barn  which  they  had 
felt  to  be  safe.  "Tied  up  tight  behind  the 
tree  here,  with  not  a  hair  of  the  old  creature's 
hide  hurt!  Well,  well!  Horses  generally 
cling  so  to  their  stalls  when  there's  a  lire,  I 
thought  right  away,  'Old  Hundred's  gone, 
likely.'  Not  that  he's  a  valuable  animal  — 
but  he  is  of  use  sometimes.  And  here  are 
the  carts —  and  the  harnesses  !  And  you  got 
them  out,  Kirk  ?  Well,  you  did  first-rate,  I 
must  say  !  And  here's  the  corn-sheller  !  How 
under  the  sun  did  you  manage  to  get  that 
way  out  here  ?  " 

Poor  little  Kirk,  who  had  indeed  worked 
"like  a  Trojan,"  and  had  singed  all  of  his 
hair  and  burned  his  very  eyebrows  off  to  get 
the  corn-sheller,  felt  quite  repaid  when  he 
heard  these  approving  words,  especially  when 
the  neighbors  joined  heartily  in  his  praise. 
The  truth  was,  that  Joe,  who  was,  under  the 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      73 

most  favorable  circumstances,  what  is  prop 
erly  called  "  fat-witted,"  had  been  utterly 
panic-stricken  when  the  fire  broke  out,  and 
if  he  had  not  had  Kirk's  example  and  direc 
tion  would  have  been  absolutely  worthless. 
As  that  young  man,  with  all  his  faults,  was 
of  a  kind  to  shine  in  an  emergency  like  the 
present  one,  however,  Joe,  under  his  leader 
ship,  had  been  able  to  render  some  help  in 
getting  the  heavier  articles  out  of  the  barn. 

Charles  and  Inez  and  Marian  had  been  re 
lieved  before  they  had  thrown  many  buckets- 
ful  on  the  roof.  There  were  so  many  men 
anxious  to  help,  that  women  and  boys  were 
able  to  take  a  rest  from  the  more  active  labors 
of  the  hour.  The  cisterns  had  been  soon  ex 
hausted,  and  though  a  good  stream  was  flow 
ing  into  both  the  one  in  the  barnyard  and 
that  in  the  kitchen,  it  was  impossible  to  fill 
the  pails  as  fast  as  they  were  emptied.  A 
line  of  men  was  therefore  formed  from  the 
house  to  the  brook,  about  thirty  rods  away. 
These  men  handed  one  to  another  overflowing 
pails  of  brook-water,  so  that  the  roof  of  the 
house  was  kept  pretty  well  wet,  though  it 
blazed  up  a  little  two  or  three  times  when  the 
fire  was  at  its  height. 


74      THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

"  I  always  said  that  I  would  have  a  rain 
water  cistern  for  use  in  case  of  tire,"  groaned 
Mr.  Wellman,  when  he  found  that  the  cis 
terns  had  given  out.  '•  And  I  thought  I'd 
have  a  hose-pump,  too  —  but  who  would 
ever  have  expected  that  ray  barn  would  really 
burn  up  like  this  ?  There  it  lias  stood  ever 
since  I  was  born  —  yes,  and  for  ten  years  or 
more  before  that  —  and  never  so  much  as  a 
thought  of  its  burning  has  ever  entered  my 
head,  unless  I  read  about  some  such  thing  in 
the  papers.  Then  I  would  sort  of  plan  to 
build  a  cistern  when  a  dull  time  came,  but  I 
never  got  to  it." 

In  about  an  hour  and  ten  minutes,  the 
whole  structure  with  the  sheds,  pig-pen,  corn- 
house,  and  other  outbuildings  which  had  been 
attached  to  it.  was  leveled  to  the  ground,  and 
a  crowd  of  a  hundred  or  more  people  had  col 
lected.  By  this  time  all  danger  to  the  house 
was  past  and  people  had  leisure  to  talk  a 
little.  It  took  only  a  few  inquiries  to  ascer 
tain  the  cause  of  the  fire.  Joe  Pirie,  the 
hired  man,  was  a  Canadian  Frenchman,  and 
at  first  he  insisted  that  he  '•  know  not  how 
dat  fire  come  by."  Hut  by  degrees  it  leaked 
out  that  he  had  lighted  his  pipe  there;  and 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      75 

the  men  who  were  familiar  with  the  careless 
habits  of  his  race,  surmised  in  an  instant,  and 
no  doubt  correctly,  that  the  match  with  which 
the  pipe  had  been  lighted,  had  been  thrown 
down  while  it  was  still  burning,  and  very 
likely  into  loose  hay  or  grain,  sucli  as  is 
always  lying  around  barns.  Joe's  smoke  that 
day  was  an  expensive  one  for  Mr.  Wellman, 
who  dismissed  him  on  the  spot,  and  hired,  a 
day  or  two  later,  a  man  who  did  not  smoke. 

"  I  never  smoke  nor  chew  myself."  Mr. 
Wellman  said,  "  and  I  always  thought  smok 
ing  wasn't  quite  so  bad  as  chewing,  though 
it's  a  filthy  enough  habit.  But,  for  us  farm 
ers,  it's  a  sight  safer  to  have  a  chewing  man 
around  than  a  smoking  one." 

It  was,  therefore,  no  slight  thing  which 
was  accomplished  in  the  interests  of  civiliza 
tion  that  day  ;  for  years  after  the  burning  of 
the  Wellman  barn,  no  man  was  hired  by  the 
farmers  in  the  vicinity,  if  it  was  known  that 
he  smoked. 

When  the  last  part  of  the  frame  of  the 
barn  had  dropped  hissing  and  quivering  into 
the  embers  below,  the  men  on  top  of  the 
house  began  to  relax  their  efforts,  and  pres 
ently  those  who  did  not  have  to  hurry  off  to 


71]      THE  GIRL  117/0  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

their  work  were  all  sitting  around  on  the 
grass  underneath  the  great  butternut-tree, 
talking  and  laughing  in  the  nervous  and  ex 
cited  way  peculiar  to  such  occasions. 

Mrs.  Wellman  (who  had  not  been  so  much 
upset  by  the  general  panic  but  that  she  had 
seized  the  opportunity  to  scrub  out  her  cistern 
while  it  was  empty  )  began,  with  the  help 
of  several  neighbors,  who  had  come  over  to 
see  the  sight,  and  to  assist  in  whatever  way 
they  could,  to  serve  raspberry  shrub  and 
cake  to  all. 

"  I  declare,  I  hadn't  thought  of  my  tool- 
chest.  It  was  right  in  the  middle  of  the  barn 
in  a  little  room  I  had  had  made  there  for  it. 
It  is  a  pile  of  ashes  by  this  time.  I  declare," 
Mr.  Wellman  sighed  as  he  reflected  upon  this 
new  loss,  and  tried  to  drown  his  sorrows  in 
a  generous  draught  of  raspberry  shrub,  "  I 
had  a  good  lot  of  tools.  I  don't  know  when 
I'll  get  so  many  together  again." 

'•I  wouldn't  worry  about  them  till  you  have 
looked  behind  those  bushes  back  of  the  barn. 
Mr.  Wellman,"  said  Kirk  reassuringly;  -I 
wouldn't  wonder  if  you  found  all  of  the 
tools  there,  and  some  of  the  tool-chest.  1 
pushed  it  out  of  the  south  door  as  hard  as  I 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      77 

could,  and  I  saw  it  go  kiting  over  the  tops  of 
those  bushes  and  roll  down  the  hill  quite  a 
distance.  It  probably  broke  up,  but  I  flung 
out  most  of  the  tools  separately  first,  and  I 
don't  believe  they  can  be  much  hurt.  The 
bushes  were  pretty  green.  They  are  only 
scorched.  They  didn't  burn  all  up." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  that  you  pushed 
that  chest  out?"  cried  Mr.  Wellman,  who 
had  been  staring  incredulously  at  Kirk  all 
the  time  that  he  had  been  speaking.  "•  Why, 
you  couldn't  do  it." 

"  I  don't  think  I  could  in  cold  blood,"  ad 
mitted  Kirk  modestly,  "  but  I  was  about  twice 
as  strong  as  usual  an  hour  or  so  ago.  I 
managed  to  give  the  chest  an  awful  shove, 
and  then  it  went  where  it  was  a  mind  to." 

The  Currys  had  staid  with  the  Wellmans 
so  many  summers  that  Mr.  Wellman  natur 
ally  felt  as  though  he  had  assisted  materially 
in  the  boys'  bringing-up.  It  was  therefore 
entirely  proper  that  he  should  now  say  jo 
cosely,  "  Well,  well,  Kirk  !  I  rather  thought 
I  had  trained  you  pretty  well,  and  now  I  am 
getting  my  reward." 

Kirk  blushed  with  pleasure,  and  remarked 
in  a  rather  embarrassed  way,  in  order  to  dis- 


78      THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

tract  attention  from  himself  (and  his  articu 
lation  was  somewhat  impeded  by  a  vast 
mouthful  of  cake):  **  Right  in  the  middle  of 
everything,  when  I  was  lugging  out  things 
as  fast  as  I  could,  and  was  so  seared  that 
I  was  all  of  a  tremble,  I  saw  Charlie  come 
straggling  out  on  the  ridge-pole,  done  up  in 
his  fancy  rig,  and  perch  himself  up  there, 
and  all  that  I  could  think  of  was,  '  There's  a 
sweet  little  cherub  who  sits  up  aloft.' ' 

They  all  laughed  at  this.  It  took  very 
little  to  make  such  a  weary  and  overwrought 
company  laugh. 

"  You  don't  laugh  much  like  a  man  who 
has  just  lost  one  of  the  best  barns  in  town," 
said  Fred  Houston's  father  to  Mr.  Wellman, 
when  lie  saw  how  heartily  he  entered  into 
the  fun. 

"  Oh  !  there's  no  more  use  in  crying  over 
burned  barns  than  there  is  in  crying  over 
spilt  milk,"  rejoined  Mr.  Wellman.  "I  had 
a  little  insurance  on  it,  and  as  likely  as  not 
I'll  have  a  new  barn  up  here  before  snow 
flies." 

"  Go  ahead,  and  we'll  help  you."  said 
several  voices. 

"  Thank   you,    thank   you,"    rejoined    Mr. 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      79 

Wellman  heartily  ;  "I  know  you  will.  But 
speaking  of  that  little  cherub  who  sat  up 
aloft  there  until  the  sparks  fell  around  him 
like  flakes  of  snow  in  a  snow-storm  —  he  did 
some  pretty  tall  work.  I  wouldn't  wonder  if 
he  had  a  blister  or  two  on  his  hands  to  pay 
for  it." 

"  Ten  of  them,"  said  Charles,  opening  his 
hands  stiffly  and  dropping  a  cooky  to  do  it. 

The  men  all  looked  at  the  blisters  with 
great  interest.  It  was  amazing  to  see  with 
what  zest  every  item  of  news  in  regard  to 
the  fire  was  gleaned  and  repeated. 

"  Those  blisters  saved  the  house,  I  guess," 
said  Mr.  Wellman  slowly,  but  with  some 
feeling. 

"  But  back  of  all  the  blisters  and  tired 
muscles  and  nil  that,"  said  Charles  manfully, 
"there  had  got  to  be  a  brain  —  and  the  brain 
which  put  all  this  machinery  into  operation 
is  over  there." 

He  pointed  to  where  Marian,  very  pale, 
but  laughing  and  talking  with  the  others, 
was  drinking  shrub  in  the  hammock.  She 
was  not  so  far  away,  however,  but  that  she 
heard  Charlie's  generous  allusion,  and  she, 
too,  flushed  with  pleasure. 


80      THE  (URL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

"  Oh!  I  had  been  in  similar  circumstances 
before,"  she  cried  modestly.  kt  I  didn't  think 
up  a  thing  all  of  myself.  Our  barn  caught 
fire  out  on  my  father's  ranch  in  California." 
she  went  on  to  explain  to  the  company,  "and 
it  happened  that  the  house  was  near,  just  as 
this  one  was,  so  all  that  I  had  to  do  was 
to  try  and  keep  my  head  clear  enough  to 
remember." 

'•No,  indeed,  it  wasn't,"  cried  Charles, 
who,  the  more  he  thought  of  it,  admired 
Marian's  admirable  management  in  the  di 
lemma  in  which  they  had  so  lately  been 
placed.  "  Indeed,  that  didn't  begin  to  be 
all.  You  put  me  to  work  on  the  roof,  and 
sent  Max  to  get  Mr.  Wellman,  and  set  Kirk 
and  Joe  to  getting  out  tilings,  and  Inez  to 
picking  up  blankets  and  buckets  and  things, 
and  all  the  while  you  worked  yourself. 
Why.  you  planned  the  whole  campaign,  like 
a — a"  —Charles  wasn't  so  well  up  in  his 
tory  as  in  beetles  —  "like  Boadicea,  or  some 
of  those  famous  military  ladies." 

"  It  was  easy  enough,"  muttered  Kirk 
under  his  breath.  Hut  nobody  heeded,  nor 
indeed  heard,  his  ungenerous  grumble.  One 
of  the  gallant  young  men  of  the  neighbor- 


THE  GUI&  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      81 

hood,  who  had  been  deeply  impressed  by 
what  he  had  heard  of  the  doings  of  this  tall 
little  girl  in  tjiis  difficult  emergency,  sprang 
to  his  feet  on  hearing  Charlie's  words  and 
-exclaimed:  u  I  give  you  the  health  of  the 
California  girl  who  saved  Mr.  Wellman's 
house.  Long  may  she  live,  and  may  her 
shadow  never  grow  less." 

Everybody  drained  their  glasses  to  the 
blushing  Marian's  honor,  and  then  they  gave 
her  three  times  three  rousing  cheers,  which 
ebullition  was  a  great  relief  all  around,  in  the 
strained  and  unnatural  condition  in  which 
they  all  found  themselves  after  their  un 
wonted  experiences.  Borne  away  by  the 
general  enthusiasm,  even  the  naughty  Kirk 
joined  in  the  shout. 

Shortly  after  the  noise  of  the  "tiger"  sub 
sided,  the  crowd  began  to  separate  for  their 
homes.  Two  or  three  of  the  women  remained 
behind  to  help  Mrs.  Wellman  in  her  clearing- 
up,  and  to  "  bake,"  for  her  hospitality  had 
completely  exhausted  her  larder,  and  the 
next  day  was  Sunday. 

Several  of  the  men,  too,  had  promised  to 
help  Mr.  Wellman  to  get  in  his  hay.  Others 
offered  to  stow  it  for  him  until  he  could  erect 


82     THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  TIIK  HOUSE. 

some  sort  of  a  shed,  and  also  to  keep  his  live 
stock  for  him.  Charles  and  Kirk  brought 
down  the  blankets  from  the  roof,  and  then 
they  and  Marian  came  out  in  front  of  the 
house,  and  threw  themselves  down  in  the 
shadow  of  the  waving  butternut  boughs, 
which  had  fortunately  preserved  their  luxu 
riant  greenness  through  all  the  fierce  heat 
and  smoke  which  had  been  so  near  them. 
The  wickets  and  stakes  of  the  croquet- 
ground  were  uprooted,  and  trampled,  and 
flung  hither  and  thither.  The  greensward 
in  all  directions  looked  as  if  an  invading 
army  had  passed  over  it,  as  indeed  it  had. 
Five  o'clock  had  just  struck.  Fanciful, 
fluttering  shadows  were  playing  about  the 
hillsides.  A  soft,  warm  breeze  was  blowing. 
The  black,  smoking  ruins  of  the  barn  were 
nearly  concealed  by  the  jutting  " ell-part"  of 
the  house.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  tram 
pled  and  torn  turf,  and  the  smell  of  burned 
timbers  in  the  air,  it  would  have  been  hard 
to  realize  that  the  peace  of  the  summer  after 
noon  had  been  so  lately  and  so  horribly 
disturbed. 

The  young  people  felt  a  sense  of  blessed 
rest  and  relief  as  they  lay  Avithout  speaking 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      83 

for  several  minutes,  enjoying  the  sweet  calm. 
They  were  all  of  them  aching  with  the  hard 
physical  exertions  which  they  had  so  recently 
made,  and  their  minds  were  naturally  some 
what  dazed  after  the  rapid  and  intense  action 
to  which  they  had  been  so  recently  sub 
jected  ;  but  even  now  Charlie's  tender  con 
science  would  not  let  him  rest  quietly. 

"  The  fact  is,  Kirk,"  he  remarked  dolefully, 
"you  and  I  ought  to  go  up  into  the  Parker 
lot  and  help  Mr.  Wellman  get  in  his  hay. 
Of  course,  we  mustn't  let  him  pay  us  a  cent 
after  all  the  loss  he  lias  suffered  from  the 
fire,  but  he  needs  our  help  more  than  ever 
now." 

"  Oh!  that's  too  bad,"  grumbled  Kirk.  "  I 
don't  believe  I  can  crawl  up  there.  I'm  all 
covered  with  bumps  and  bruises,  and  my 
arms  ache  yet  with  tugging  at  those  great 
heavy  harnesses  and  things.  Mr.  Wellman 
is  going  to  have  some  men  to  help  him.  He 
won't  expect  us.  I  feel  like  telling  you,  as 
our  German  teacher  does,  to  'close  up!  ' 

Marian  had  not  heard  this  little  joke  before, 
and  she  laughed  out  of  her  hammock,  though 
she  was  too  tired  to  say  anything. 

"  Well,"    yawned    Charles,    who    was    too 


84      THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

weary  to  go,  and  who  recognized  the  justice 
of  Kirk's  plea,  "  I  suppose  we  can  perhaps 
make  it  up  next  week.  My !  One  realizes 
that  what  the  boy  said  is  true  —  that  the 
surface  of  the  earth  is  made  up  of  land  and 
water,  otherwise  mud  ; "  he  pointed  rue 
fully  to  the  puddles  which  everywhere  de 
faced  the  greensward  and  the  road\vay 
leading  to  the  barn  —  '-and  just  think! 
three  hours  ago,  or  a  little  over,  how  pretty 
it  all  was  here  —  a  'dead  clam,'  as  the  man 
said.  I  never  realized  before  what  a  little 
time  it  took  to  burn  things  up." 

"And  how  the  folks  came,''  added  Kirk; 
'•I  never  saw  so  many  together  in  this  town, 
unless  there  was  a  cattle-show  or  something 
like  that.  They  were  '  thicker'n  spatter,'  as 
the  Mellows  boy  says." 

"  That  funny  old  Mrs.  Biggin  was  here," 
he  continued  a  moment  later,  "and  she  asked 
me  if  my  mother  was  '  smart.'  What  do  you 
suppose  she  meant  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  know !  "  exclaimed  Marian.  "They 
say  that  out  in  California.  She  meant,  was 
your  mother  well,  and  able  to  do  as  much  as 
usual." 

"  Oh  !  "  said  Kirk,  with  a  mortified  air. 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      85 

"  Seems  to  me  you  ought  to  know  what 
that  means,"  said  Charles,  with  some  scorn. 
'"  I've  heard  it  around  here  a  good  many 
times." 

"  Well,  what  did  you  answer  ? "  inquired 
Marian. 

"  Oh  !  "  began  Kirk,  blushing  furiously,  "  I 
didn't  want  to  say  my  mother  was  '  smart.' 
Of  course,  I  thought  she  was,  but  I  thought 
it  wouldn't  sound  exactly  nice  to  say  so. 
And  yet  I  didn't  want  to  go  back  on  her,  and 
say  she  wasn't  smart,  so  I  just  said,  '  Smart 
as  ever.'  Was  that  very  bad  ?  " 

Marian  and  Charles  could  not  help  laugh 
ing  at  Kirk's  ingenuity,  but  Marian  hastened 
to  congratulate  him  on  thinking  so  promptly 
of  a  way  out  of  his  dilemma,  and  Kirk,  who 
had  felt  a  little  sensitive  when  they  first  be 
gan  to  laugh,  was  appeased. 

"  I  thought  of  the  queerest  things  while  I 
was  hustling  about  in  the  barn,"  he  went  on 
presently.  "There  I  was,  as  scared  as  I  could 
be,  and  afraid  every  minute  that  the  fire 
would  burst  through  under  my  feet,  and  yet 
I  thought  of  a  definition  of  'stability,'  that  I 
had  heard  not  long  ago,  and  it  made  me  laugh 
right  out  loud.  A  boy  in  our  class  said 


80      THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

that  it  was  '  cleaning  out  a  stable,'  and  I 
thought  I  had  a  good  deal  of  stability  just 
then.  My!  how  that  fire  crackled." 

Kirk  shuddered,  and  they  all  sat  silent  for 
several  minutes.  Suddenly  there  was  a  dis 
mal  sound  heard  in  the  distance.  Every 
moment  it  grew  louder. 

"Goodness!  There's  Max  crying,'' groaned 
Charles.  "  I  had  forgotten  all  about  him.  I 
wonder  what  is  the  matter  now.  Hear  him 
go  on  !  " 

Loud,  drawling  "  aws,"  delivered  in  an  ex 
plosive  manner,  and  followed  by  crescendoes 
ending  in  prolonged  howls,  filled  the  surround 
ing  air,  and  presently  Max  appeared  in  sight 
around  the  corner  of  the  house.  His  hat  was 
torn  and  wet,  and  his  clothes  were  muddy 
and  very  much  disordered  generally,  but  he 
held  his  kitty  closely  in  his  arms.  Charcoal 
was  used  to  Max's  violent  expressions  of  sor 
row,  and  bore  them  as  though  she  were  really 
made  of  the  diamond  dust  which  her  name 
implied. 

"Aw-w-w-w!"  bellowed  Max,  increasing 
his  wind-power  as  he  neared  an  audience  ;  k%  I 
can't  find  'em.  I've  been  a-lookin'  for  Yin 
everywhere,  an'  I  guess  they're  all  burned 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      87 

up.  Oh  !  my  Biddies  are  all  burned  up. 
Aw-w-w!  I've  been  down  under  the  quince- 
bushes,  an'  I've  been  under  the  grape-vines, 
an'  I've  crawled  under  the  shed  where  it's  all 
wet,  an'  I  can't  find  any  of  'em  only  my  Corn- 
barrel  hen  an'  my  speckled  Banty.  An'  I 
didn't  have  any  cake  an'  shrub  'cause  I  was 
a-lookin'  for  'em  —  aw-w  !  —  an'  now  Inez 
says  the  cake  an'  shrub's  all  gone  —  aw-w  !  " 

"  I  don't  see  what  under  the  sun  she  told 
you  we  had  any  for,"  grumbled  Charles,  "  as 
long  as  you  weren't  around  then.  Why 
weren't  you  here  when  the  rest  of  us  had 
them  ?  " 

u  You  sha'n't  speak  so  cross  to  me,  Charlie 
Curry  !  "  wept  Max.  "  Mamma  wouldn't  let 
you  if  she  was  here.  I  had  to  look  for  my 
Biddies  —  course  I  did.  I  guess  you'd  'a' 
had  to  look  for  your  bugs,  if  they'd  'a'  been 
burned  up  in  the  barn." 

"  You're  the  one  that  would  have  '  been  her' 
in  that  story,"  groaned  Kirk. 

"  I  dunno  what  you  mean,"  sobbed  Max, 
with  suspicions  of  treachery  in  his  voice. 

"  Why,  in  that  story  mamma  read  in  the 
paper  about  the  four  boys.  She  told  one  of 
her  callers  that  one  of  her  boys  ought  to  have 


88      THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

been  a  girl,  and  one  of  them  heard  her  and 
said  he  didn't  know  who'd  'a'  been  her  —  lie 
wouldn't  'a'  been  her,  and  Ed  wouldn't  'a' 
been  her,  and  Sam  wouldn't  'a'  been  her, 
and  Dick  wouldn't  'a'  been  her,  and  he  didn't 
know  who'd  'a'  been  her.  You'd  have  been 
her.  You're  a  girl-boy  if  ever  there  was 
one." 

"  I  ain't  a  girl-boy  !  "  roared  Max,  now  furi 
ously  angry,  and  dropping  Charcoal  with  the 
evident  intention  of  trying  pugilistic  conclu 
sions  with  Kirk  ;  "  Kirk  sha'n't  talk  so,  shall 
he,  Charlie  ?  I  ain't  a  mite  like  a  girl." 

"  I  don't  think  it's  much  of  a  time  to  be 
making  light  of  girls,  after  what  your  Cousin 
Marian  has  done  to-day,"  remarked  Mrs.  Well- 
man  from  the  doorway,  whither  she  had  just 
come,  unobserved  by  the  young  people. 

Her  voice  calmed  and  checked  Max's  rising 
wrath.  His  pudgy  little  hands  fell  to  his 
sides —  oh  !  the  wails  and  the  scars  on  those 
busy  little  hands  —  and  he  began  to  scramble 
for  his  cat  again.  Kirk  muttered  something 
to  the  effect  that  girls  did  cry  a  lot,  anyhow. 
To  this,  Mrs.  Wellman  rejoined  significantly 
that  little  boys  cried  about  as  much  as  little 
girls,  if  she  could  judge  from  some  little  boys 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      89 

with  whom  she  had  been  associated  for  sev 
eral  summers,  and  Max  was  not  the  only  one. 

This  effectually  "  closed  up  "  Kirk  for  a 
while.  Marian  maintained  throughout  this 
whole  discussion  a  discreet  silence. 

This  silence  seeming  to  become  a  little 
embarrassing  after  a  few  moments,  she  asked 
Max  if  he  were  going  to  raise  hens  when  he 
grew  up. 

"  Yes,  I  am,"  returned  Max  emphatically  ; 
"  I'm  going  to  have  the  biggest  poultry-farm 
in  the  world.  And  that  reminds  me,  maybe 
my  hens  have  gone  off  to  Mr.  Houston's. 
I'm  going  over  to  see." 

"  O,  no  !  They  are  all  burned  up.  You 
know  they  are,"  said  Kirk,  mockingly  ;  but 
Max  was  already  out  of  hearing,  and  with 
Charcoal  bobbing  up  and  down  over  his 
shoulder,  was  soon  out  of  sight  on  his  way 
to  Mr.  Houston's. 

"•  What  a  funny  boy  he  is,"  mused  Marian, 
as  she  watched  him  disappear.  "  I  wonder  if 
he  really  will  be  a  poultry-farmer." 

"In  the  summers  he  thinks  he  will,  but  in 
the  spring  and  fall  \vhen  we  are  in  the  city, 
he  is  going  to  be  a  crack  ball-player.  He  ex 
pects  to  be  the  leading  pitcher  in  the  world, 


90      THE  (1IUL  \\-JIO  SAVED  THE  110 VISE. 

and  I  must  say  he  pitches  better  than  any 
other  boy  on  our  block." 

k%(),  dear  !  I  hadn't  heard  of  that,"  laughed 
Marian. 

"•  And  in  the  winter,  when  there  isn't  any 
ball  going  on,  he  thinks  differently  still,"  con 
tinued  Charles.  "  He  is  absurdly  fond  of 
poetry.  He  knows  yards  and  yards  of  it —  if 
he  hasn't  forgotten  it  since  vacation  set  in. 
He  makes  it  a  point  generally  to  forget  dur 
ing  vacation  all  that  he  learns  throughout 
the  rest  of  the  year." 

"Oh!  we  all  do  that,"  suggested  Marian, 
charitably.  "  But  I  must  see  if  he  can't  re 
member  some  of  his  poetry  to  repeat  to  me." 

"  Then  you  want  to  strike  him  just  right," 
Charles  warned  her.  "If  he  isn't  in  just  the 
right  mood  when  you  ask  him,  he  will  say 
that  he  doesn't  know  any  and  never  did,  and 
get  awfully  mad  because  anybody  has  told 
you  about  it.  lie  thinks  it  is  a  great  weak 
ness,  you  see,  because  it  isn't  like  the  other 
boys  in  his  class  at  school ;  but  if  you  take 
him  when  he  is  feeling  pretty  good — when 
he  has  been  beating  at  letters,  for  instance  — 
maybe  you  can  get  something  out  of  him. 
He  was  teasing  all  the  time  last  fall  for  a 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      91 

velocipede,  but  one  day  he  came  in  and  asked 
mamma  if  she  had  a  copy  of  Holmes's  Poems. 
Mamma  said  she  hadn't  any,  and  that  made 
him  feel  very  bad.  Presently  he  came  up  and 
asked  her,  with  a  great  sigh,  '  Please,  I  wish 
you  would  get  me  a  copy  of  Holmes's  Poems. 
Now,  I  tell  you  what;  if  you  can't  afford  to 
get  me  a  velocipede  and  the  Poems,  too,  for  a 
Christmas  present,  why,  get  me  the  Poems." 

"  Of  course,  that  tickled  mamma  almost  to 
pieces,"  interposed  Kirk. 

'•Yes,"  went  on  Charles,  "but  the  best 
came  afterward.  Mamma  said  to  papa,  '  I 
think  we  must  be  going  to  have  a  poet  in  the 
family,'  upon  which  Max  chipped  in  as 
quick  as  could  be,  '  O,  no  !  I'm  going  to 
be  a  baseball-player,  you  know.'  Then  he 
thought  a  minute,  and  burst  out:  'But  I 
sha'n't  have  to  play  ball  in  the  winters.  I 
tell  you  what,  mamma  !  I  might  be  a  base 
ball-player  summers  and  a  poet  winters.' 
That  brought  us  all  down,  of  course." 

It  ''brought  down"  Marian,  too,  and  she 
nearly  suffocated  herself  laughing. 

Max  had  assured  himself  that  in  spite  of 
the  ominous  absence  of  the  hens,  which  the 
Iloustons  had  not  seen,  after  all,  the  three 


92      THE  OWL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE. 

cats  belonging  to  the  family  were  all  right. 
He  appeared  at  this  moment  with  all  three  of 
them  in  his  arms.  Poor  little  Max  was  trying 
to  extract  from  the  cats  all  of  the  comfort 
which  he  had  been  wont  to  find  in  them, 
added  to  that  which  his  liens  had  supplied. 

"O,  dear!''  he  sighed,  as  he  sat  down, 
and  gripped  his  cats  hard  to  prevent  them 
from  running  away,  "  I  do  feel  so  badly  " 

'•Max,"  said  Charles,  severely,  "just  be 
cause  the  barn  has  burned  you  are  not  going 
to  be  allowed  to  talk  bad  grammar.  How 
would  it  sound  to  say  '  I  feel  hotly,'  or  '  I 
feel  anxiously  ? '  Say  '  I  feel  bad,'  for  pity's 
sake." 

"  I  shouldn't  think  you'd  want  me  to  feel 
bad,"  urged  Max,  with  a  gleam  of  humor, 
veiled  in  a  doleful  whimper. 

Charles  was  about  to  retort  in  kind,  when 
a  sudden  rattle  of  wheels  was  heard.  This 
was  immediately  drowned  by  the  ringing  of 
the  tea-bell.  The  young  people  rose  to  go  in, 
but  Kirk  stopped  a  moment. 

"  Seems  to  me  I  hear  somebody  driving  up 
the  hill,"  lie  said,  peering  over  the  stone  wall 
to  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  whoever  might 
be  coming. 


THE  GIRL  WHO  SAVED  THE  HOUSE.      93 

"  It  sounds  like  Put,"  ventured  Max.  "  It 
is  Put,  as  sure  as  I  live !  What  can  have 
brought  the  folks  home  ?  " 

And  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Curry  and  Yal,  all  of 
them  as  pale  as  ashes,  came  driving  rapidly 
up  to  the  door. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

A    PICNIC    AT   THK    MAPLE   GROVE. 

THERE  is  nothing  more  mysterious  than 
the  way  in  which  news  travels  in  the  country. 
In  the  city,  people  expect  to  hear  tidings 
quickly,  there  are  so  many  avenues  of  com 
munication.  In  the  country,  there  are  no 
messenger  boys,  no  district  telegraph  wires, 
few  telephones ;  yet  ten  miles  from  home,  on 
a  lonely  road,  the  information  had  reached 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Curry  that  Mr.  \Yi •llman's  barn 
was  on  (ire.  A  certain  farmer,  who  dwelt  on 
a  remote  hill-top,  which  happened  to  com 
mand  a  view  of  the  Wt-llman  place,  had  seen 
the  flames,  just  as  he  \\as  about  starting  for 
ki  town  "  to  do  some  errands.  Of  course,  he 
told  everybody  whom  he  happened  to  meet, 
according  to  the  custom  in  that  part  of  the 
country.  Among  these  individuals  were  Mr. 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.        95 

and  Mrs.  Curry  and  Val,  who  turned  about 
immediately  and  made  -for  home  as  fast  as 
they  could.  They  were,  fortunately,  able  to 
send  word  to  the  friends  who  were  expecting 
them,  of  the  reason  of  their  non-appearance 
at  the  appointed  time,  and  so  no  one  was 
especially  inconvenienced. 

Poor  Put,  who  had  had  a  hard  time,  as  the 
roads  over  which  he  had  come  so  fast  were 
very  rough  and  hilly,  was  unhitched  and 
given  some  oats  in  a  "  horse-basket  "  in  the 
woodshed.  It  had  seemed  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Curry  that  the  poor  animal  had  merely 
crawled  all  the  way  home  ;  but  indeed,  few 
steeds  would  have  been  able  to  o-o  at  the  rate 

O 

at  which  Put  had  brought  them.  The  faith 
ful  beast  was  tired,  and  he  looked  disgusted 
enough  when,  instead  of  his  comfortable  stall, 
lie  found  himself  in  the  woodshed,  and  fed 
so  awkwardly. 

Put  disposed  of  temporarily,  the  family  sat 
down  to  a  late  supper.  The  boys,  who  were 
naturally  not  very  hungry  after  the  cake  and 
shrub  (excepting  Max  ),  vied  with  each 
other  in  graphic  descriptions  of  the  events  of 
the  afternoon.  Kirk  held  the  floor  to  begin 
with,  and  it  was  noticeable  that  in  his  versior 


93       A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE. 

Marian  was  almost  entirely  ignored.  Charles 
felt  this  to  be  so  mean,  that  he,  when  his  turn 
came,  painted  that  young  person's  part  in  the 
achievements  of  the  day,  in  glowing  colors. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wellman  joined  in  her  praise 
so  enthusiastically  that  poor  Marian  fairly 
radiated  pinkness  from  her  blushing  face, 
and  threatened  to  leave  the  table  if  her  name 
were  mentioned  again.  She  linally  obtained 
a  hearing  —  in  the  excitement,  the  boys  had 
paid  no  attention  to  the  laws  of  eticpuette — 
and  then  she  dwelt  with  emphasis  upon  the 
way  in  which  Kirk  had  removed  the  things 
from  the  barn,  especially  lauding  his  manage 
ment  of  Joe,  who  had  lost  his  head  entirely, 
and  would  have  been  of  no  use  at  all,  if  Kirk 
had  not  assumed,  as  he  was  fairly  forced  to 
do,  the  right  to  command  him,  and  really 
brought  the  stupid  fellow  to  his  senses.  This 
made  Kirk  blush  even  more  fiercely  than 
Marian  had  done ;  but  there  was  another 
sentiment  besides  modesty  which  caused  the 
color  to  mount  to  his  obstinate,  naughty  little 
face.  Mrs.  Curry  saw  it,  and  hoped  that 
good  results  might  flow  therefrom  ;  but  if 
she  expected  Kirk  to  yield  at  once  to  his 
cousin's  noble  conduct,  she  was  destined  to 


A  P1CX1C  AT  THE  MAPLE  GHOVE.        97 

be  disappointed,  for  that  evening,  as  she  was 
passing  the  room  in  which  he  and  Charles 
slept  together,  she  heard  Kirk  say  sleepily, 
but  with  a  distinct  sneer  in  his  voice,  some- 
tiling  about  "  that  Mary  Ann." 

Enough  has  not  been  said  in  this  chronicle 
of  the  doings  of  Master  Valentine  Curry,  who 
was  one  of  the  very  dearest  little  fellows  who 
ever  lived.  To  see  him  inarching  about  the 
Wellman  farm  u  helping  hay,*'  or  feeding  the 
hens  with  Max,  and  being  allowed,  upon  oc 
casion,  to  hold  in  his  arms  that  precious 
organism,  Charcoal,  was  worth  going  many  a 
mile.  With  one  of  the  checked  gingham 
aprons,  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  over 
his  pretty  kilts,  and  with  a  broad-brimmed, 
brown  straw  hat  set  well  back  from  his 
round,  fair,  sober  little  face,  he  made  his  pil 
grimages  to  the  berry -patch  in  the  garden,  to 
the  clover-lield  hunting  four-leafed  clovers, 

o 

to  the  ploughed  fields  to  assist  in  the  labors 
there,  or  to  the  croquet-ground  underneath 
the  great  butternut-tree.  Here  it  was  very 
funny  to  watch  him  as  he  carried  on  an  alleged 
game,  which  he  usually  played  with  himself. 
As  he  was  several  years  younger  than  Max, 
that  eccentric  young  man  did  not  consider 

«/  o 


98        A  P1CXIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GliOVI-J. 

Val  really  worth  playing  with,  though  he 
tolerated  "  the  baby,"  as  he  usually  called  his 
little  brother,  with  much  patience,  and  even 
affection,  considering  the  circumstances.  Vul 
usually  bore  the  slings  and  arrows  of  Max's 
condescension  with  equanimity,  but  occasion 
ally  he,  too,  assumed  authority. 

Thus,  he  was  one  day  busily  devouring 
berries  up  in  the  berry-patch  when  he  saw 
Max  coming  with,  as  he  fancied,  an  unmis 
takably  hungry  look  upon  his  countenance. 
As  there  did  not  seem  to  Val  to  be  really 
berries  enough  for  two,  and  as  he  was  enjoy 
ing  himself  very  much  in  hunting  out  and 
devouring  such  as  there  were,  he  decided 
to  oppose  Max's  progress.  Accordingly,  he 
shouted  out  warningly,  waving  his  hands 
frantically  at  the  same  time:  "Don't  oo  come, 
Max  !  Ye  paf's  awful  slippery,  Max  !  Oo'll 
fall  down  'n  hurt  nrseff,  if  oo  comes  affer  'ese 
be 'wies  !  'Sides,  Max,"  seeing  that  Max  was 
sturdily  forging  ahead,  regardless  of  the  hor 
rible  dangers  of  the  slippery  path,  "  'e  steer 
in  'e  barn'll  get  loose,  'n  scare  oo  awful ! 
Don'  oo  come !  " 

But  Max  was  ready  for  him. 

"  I've  got  some  harvest  apples  here,  Val," 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.        99 

he  urged  insinuatingly;  "awful  nice  harvest 
apples." 

Yal  fell  into  the  trap  and  left  his  berries  at 
once. 

tv  I  would  devise  oo,  Max,"  he  said,  with 
grave  dignity,  "  I  would  devise  oo  to  give 
me  some  of  zose  hard,  sour  apples,"  He  had 
not  quite  understood  Max's  adjectives. 

He  and  Max  sat  down  on  the  stone  wall 
beside  the  berry-patch,  and  Val  continued, 
"  Now,  Max,  get  off  'e  parin'  schkins  for 
me,  an'  cut  off  'e  handle." 

This  done,  and  the  apple  proving  highly 
satisfactory,  he  allowed  Max  to  eat  all  the 
berries  he  wanted,  without  making  the  slight 
est  objection. 

At  night,  when  he  knelt  beside  his  mother's 
knee  to  say  his  prayer,  which  he  always  re 
peated  at  an  express-train  rate,  he  would  in 
variably  say  when  he  got  through,  "  Did  I 
wattle  it  off  ?  " 

His  air  of  profound  anxiety  afforded  the 
older  boys,  who  were  often  present,  great 
amusement,  but  there  was  never  any  sign 
that  the  child  was  not  perfectly  sincere  in  his 
question.  His  mother  would  reply,  "Rather, 
my  dear.  You  must  try  to  speak  more  slowly 


100     A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  UltOVE. 

next  time."  Upon  this  lie  would  s;iy  re 
signedly,  "  Es,  I  will,"  and  in  two  minutes 
he  would  be  fast  asleep. 

One  da}-,  Marian,  who  had  readily  won 
"the  baby's"  heart  —  this  member  of  the 
family  having  as  yet  imbibed  no  prejudice 
against  "gills"  —  was  shocked  to  see  Yal, 
while  chasing  a  white  butterfly,  and  finally 
catching  it  in  his  hat,  knock  it  down  and 
begin  to  stamp  viciously  upon  it. 

"Don't,  dear,  don't!''  she  cried,  rushing 
forward  to  stop  him. 

He  turned  toward  her  with  a  look  of  re 
proachful  surprise  upon  his  face. 

"  Di'n't  oo  know,  Ma'an,"  he  asked  soberly, 
"  'at  'ese  whi'  bu'flies  make  ol'  cabbage-worms 
to  eat  up  Misser  Wellman's  cabbages?  " 

No,  Marian  did  not  know  it.  Though  she 
had  collected  butterflies  in  California,  she 
had  not  studied  them  very  thoroughly,  and 
she  had  not  had  the  privilege  of  Charlie's  in 
structions  for  so  long  a  period  as  Val  had  en 
joyed  them.  She  retreated  in  abashed  silence 
before  Yal's  superior  wisdom. 

One  day  Kirk  hugged  him  ven  bard,  and 
Val  expostulated  sternly  with  him:  -If  oo 
keep  /e  air  out  of  me  like  'at.  Kirk,  I'll  die.' 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.     101 

It  would  be  pleasant  to  go  on  telling  anec 
dotes  of  Val  for  a  whole  chapter,  at  least; 
but  as  an  incident  occurred  a  few  days  after 
the  tire  of  which  an  account  must  be  given 
soon,  and  of  which  Val  was  the  hero,  it  will 
not  do  to  linger  longer  on  reminiscences  of 
the  family  favorite. 

The  strain  and  nervousness  had  kept  Mrs. 
Wellman  and  Marian  awake  a  large  part  of 
the  night,  and  even  the  boys,  who  had  never 
been  known  to  have  a  sleepless  night  in 
their  lives,  confessed  to  bad  dreams,  Monday 
came,  and  yet  the  family  had  far  from  re 
gained  their  balance.  Only  those  who  have 
been  through  a  similar  experience  can  realize 
the  weariness  and  nervousness  which  they 
all  felt.  Seeing  how  unstrung  —  and  one 
might  as  well  speak  plainly  and  say  cross  — 
they  were,  Mrs.  Curry  proposed  that  they 
should  go  up  to  "  the  maple  grove "  -  a 
favorite  picnicking  resort  of  the  family  - 
and  take  their  Monday's  lunch.  It  was  situ 
ated  delightfully,  well  up  on  the  pasture-hill 
behind  the  house,  and  in  its  peaceful  shades, 
Mrs.  Curry  thought  that  her  family  might  re 
gain  somewhat  of  that  quiet  of  soul  in  which 
Lhey  all  seemed  to  1)3  lacking. 


102     A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE. 

"  After  the  lunch,"  she  said,  "  we  will  have 
some  true  stories  —  some  new  ones  which 
none  of  us  have  ever  told  before.  Every  one 
must  tell  a  story.  Even  Yal  will  do  his 
share.  He  has  promised  me  solemnly  that 
he  will  do  so." 

The  plan  was  received  with  unexpected 
favor.  Mrs.  Curry  feared  that  the  boys 
might  pronounce  her  scheme  a  little  "  slow." 
But  they  fell  in  witli  it  right  heartily,  and 
shouldered  uncomplainingly  the  baskets  and 
pails  which  were  necessary  to  the  carrying  out 
of  the  enterprise.  Mrs.  Wellman  could  not 
come  up  to  eat  luncheon,  but  she  prom 
ised  to  appear  about  two  o'clock,  when  she 
judged  that  the  story-telling  tournament 
might  begin.  There  was  a  good  deal  doing 
about  the  house  that  day.  Mr.  Wellman,  with 
the  help  of  some  of  the  neighbors,  was  busy 
putting  up  a  small  temporary  barn  and  shed, 
which  should  serve  until  he  could  erect  some 
thing  better.  The  boys  and  Mr.  Curry 
helped  actively  upon  this  work,  until  nearly 
noon,  when  they  took  up  their  burdens,  as 
has  been  described,  and  started  for  the  "maple- 
grove."  It  was  a  good  half-hour's  climb  to 
the  spot,  and  then  a  fire  was  to  be  built,  and 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.     103 

the  cloth  laid  for  dinner.  A  bubbling  spring 
near  by  supplied  them  with  an  abundance  of 
cool  water,  and  the  birds  sang  their  sweetest 
music  while  the  feast  was  in  progress. 

By  two  o'clock,  as  Mrs.  Wellman  had  pre 
dicted,  the  edibles  which  had  been  provided 
had  nearly  disappeared,  and  she  was  seen 
coming  slowly  up  the  picturesque  ascent. 
The  boys  could  not  at  once  settle  down  to 
their  stories,  but  after  climbing  the  tallest 
trees  in  the  surrounding  woods,  they  began 
to  feel  more  like  resting.  "  Charcoal  "  was 
discovered  to  have  "  tagged  "  the  party  over 
the  somewhat  long  and  toilsome  road,  and 
was  soon  safe  in  Max's  arms,  though  Val  had 
intimated  that  he  would  like  her  for  a  little 
while.  Max  insisted  selfishly  upon  having 
his  pet  to  himself,  however,  and  Val  was 
comforted  only  by  being  taken  into  his 
father's  lap,  where  he  presently  fell  asleep. 

It  devolved  upon  Mr.  Curry,  when  the 
the  boys  had  all  found  comfortable  positions 
around  him,  to  "open  the  ball,"  which  lie 
proceeded  to  do,  by  telling  a  story  of  his 
grandfather  when  he  was  a  student  at  Yale 
College  in  1796. 

u  I  don't  know  what  would  be  thought  by 


104     A  P1CXIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE. 

the  excellent  members  of  the  college  faculty 
in  my  father's  time,"  began  Mr.  Curry,  "  if 
they  could  step  into  one  of  our  modern  par 
lors,  and  see  the  family,  from  father  to  baby, 
playing  'hearts'  or  'muggins'  or  'casino.' 
Card-playing  was  considered  a  cardinal  sin  " 
("  Oh!  oh  !  oh  !  "  groaned  the  boys)  '•  in  those 
days,  and,  as  might  have  been  expected,  the 
college  boys  thought  it  much  more  amusing 
to  play  cards  then  than  they  do  no\v.  One 
night,  my  grandfather  and  three  of  his  class 
mates  were  having  a  game  of  whist.  The 
door  was  locked,  the  windows  were  darkened, 
and  some  hasty  pudding  —  the  students  were 
forbidden  to  eat  such  tilings  in  their  rooms, 
and  hasty  pudding  was  then  considered  a 
great  luxury  —  was  simmering  in  a  pot 
which  hung  from  a  hook  on  the  crane  over 
the  open  fire.  Suddenly  a  noise  was  heard 
in  the  corridor.  The  cards  were  hurriedly 
tucked  hither  and  thither,  and  one  of  the 
young  men  took  the  pot  of  boiling  pudding 
and  emptied  it  into  the  two  capacious  coat- 
tail-pockets  of  my  grandfather.  They  had 
only  time  to  accomplish  these  concealments, 
when  there  was  a  sharp  knock  at  the  door. 
Three  of  the  bovs  became  at  once  absorbed 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.     105 

in  their  books.  Grandfather,  who,  of  course, 
could  not  sit  down,  and  who  trusted  to  the 
dim  light  to  hide  the  size  of  his  pockets, 
opened  the  door  politely. 

"  I  heard  a  noise  in  this  room,  sir,"  re 
marked  the  stern  tutor  who  stood  there.  "  I 
suspect  that  there  has  been  card-playing  go 
ing  on  here.  What  is  this,  sir?"  seizing 
my  grandfather's  arm.  "  What  have  you  in 
this  pocket  ?  " 

"If  you  suspect  me  of  having  cards  there," 
replied  my  grandfather,  putting  on  a  deeply 
injured  air,  while  the  boys  at  the  table  were 
nearly  bursting  with  laughter,  "  you  have 
only  to  search  me.  I  suppose  you  would  not 
believe  me  if  I  should  say  that  I  have  not  ?  " 

"It  is  my  intention  to  search  you,"  said 
the  tutor  loftily.  As  he  spoke,  he  thrust  his 
hand  deep  into  the  scalding  pudding. 

"  What  happened  then  ?  "  inquired  Kirk, 
as  his  father  paused  amid  a  general  laugh. 

"  That,  my  son,  was  always  left  by  my 
grandfather  to  the  imagination  of  his  hearers." 

"But,  honest,  what  did  the  tutor  do?" 
asked  Charles. 

"  What  would  you  have  done  ? "  asked 
Mrs.  Curry,  in  turn. 


106     A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE. 

" 1  know  what  I  should  have  done.  I 
should  have  howled,"  exclaimed  Max  so  em 
phatically  they  all  burst  out  laughing  afresh. 

**  I  believe  you,"  said  Kirk,  in  the  dis 
agreeably  hearty  way  in  which  older  brothers 
sometimes  make  such  remarks. 

"  Did  he  burn  hisself  ?  "  asked  Val,  who 
had  been  roused  by  the  laugh  at  the  end  of 
his  father's  story,  and  who  had  been  question 
ing  Charles  as  to  the  cause  thereof.  As  lie 
spoke,  he  rolled  his  sweet  dark  eyes  toward 
his  mother,  and  revealed  the  fact  that  tears 
were  forming  rapidly  there. 

"  You  bet  your  life  he  did,"  replied  Kirk  for 
her.  "  But  it  was  a  good  while  ago,  honey. 
He's  got  over  it  by  this  time.  I  wouldn't 
cry." 

Thus  reassured,  Val  relinquished  his  evi 
dent  intention  of  waking,  and  Mrs.  Curry 
was  informed  that  it  was  her  turn  next. 
"  And  don't  you  try  to  get  off  with  such  a 
stingy  little  story  as  papa  gave  us,"  Kirk 
warned  her. 

"  Oil !  quality  must  be  reckoned,  as  well  as 
quantity,"  she  laughed  in  return.  "  The 
only  thing  I  have  thought  of  is  not  very  long, 
but  I  think  it  will  amuse  you.  It  is  a  college 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GKOVE.      107 

story,  too.  I  was  reminded  of  it  the  other 
day,  though  I  haven't  heard  it  for  many 
years.  My  Aunt  Elinor  used  to  tell  it  to  us. 
You  know  that  grandfather's  family  lived  in 
a  college  town  ?  Of  course,  when  Commence 
ment  time  came  around  each  year,  a  great 
cro\vd  filled  every  house  in  the  place.  Aunt 
Elinor  and  her  three  sisters,  therefore,  were 
made  to  move  out  of  their  large,  comfortable 
rooms,  and  give  them  up  to  guests,  while 
they  themselves  slept  in  the  attic.  In  this 
lofty  refuge  there  was  one  bedstead.  In 
this  only  two  girls  could  sleep.  The  other 
two  had  to  put  up  with  a  mattress  which 
was  laid  upon  the  floor.  The  two  girls  who 
first  went  to  bed  took  possession  of  the 
bedstead.  The  other  two  '  got  left,'  as  you 
boys  say,  and  had  to  make  the  best  of  the 
hard  floor.  Aunt  Elinor  and  her  sister  Olive 
were  the  two  eldest  girls,  and  when  they  re 
tired  one  Commencement  night,  they  found 
that  Jessie  and  Emma,  the  two  youngest  sis 
ters,  had  stolen  a  march  upon  them,  and  were 
apparently  fast  asleep  on  the  comfortable 
couch.  Their  eyelids  twitched,  and  Aunt 
Elinor  knew  that  they  were  no  more  asleep 
than  she  was,  but  she  and  Aunt  Olive  were 


108     A  PICXIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE. 

too  tired  to  protest,  and  so  they  meekly 
sought  their  hard  mattress  on  the  floor.  In 
the  middle  of  the  night  there  was  a  loud  re 
port,  and  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the  cord 
in  the  old-fashioned  bedstead  had  given  way. 
Shaking  with  suppressed  laughter,  the  elder 
girls  heard  the  younger  ones  bewailing  the 
mishap.  '  The  greedy  things  have  been  come 
up  with,'  they  thought  virtuously,  but  they 
uttered  nothing  aloud.  'I  shall  never  for 
get,'  Aunt  Elinor  used  to  say  in  conclusion, 
'how  funny  those  girls  looked  in  the  morning, 
when  we  got  up.  They  had  been  awake  half 
the  night,  and  naturally  they  were  tired 
enough  to  sleep  almost  any  way  ;  but  I  never 
saw  two  more  uncomfortable  creatures  than 
they  appeared,  doubled  up  like  the  letter  V, 
with  their  feet  as  high  as  their  heads.'  Yet 
there  they  were,  sleeping  away  as  though 
they  were  as  well  fixed  as  anybody." 

They  all  laughed  at  the  fate  of  the  greedy 
girls,  and  Charles  was  requested  to  take  tin- 
next  turn.  He  had  spent  two  summers  in  a 
boy's  camp  in  New  Hampshire,  and  his  stories, 
for  which  Max  and  Val  were  forever  teasing 
him,  usually  embodied  some  phase  of  his 
experience  while  there. 


mxfr*  f  m 


MAIMAN  <>N  TII 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.      HI 

"  I  suppose,"  he  began  now  with  a  little 
sigh,  "  that  I  shall  have  to  fall  back  upon  my 
camp-stories.  You  will  have  to  excuse  me 
from  one  of  your  conditions.  I  can't  tell  any 
true  stories  out  of  my  own  experience  with 
out  repeating.  Max  and  Val  have  drained 
me  dry.  The  rest  of  you  haven't  been  teased 
as  I  have  by  them,  1  know." 

"  Well,"  admitted  his  mother  leniently, 
"  since  we  are  so  fond  of  hearing  your  camp- 
stories,  and  since  the  little  boys  have  worked 
you  rather  hard,  we  won't  be  too  strict. 
Marian  hasn't  heard  your  yarns,  any  way." 

u  I  feel  almost  ashamed  to  tell  them,  they 
seem  to  me  so  threadbare,"  Charles  apolo 
gized  ;  "  but  I  will  try  to  pick  out  the  least 
venerable.  You  see,  Marian,"  he  continued, 
"  we  had  a  camp-lire  every  night,  and  we 
told  stories  around  it.  I  put  down  sketches 
of  the  most  interesting  of  them  in  my  diary, 
and  those,  with  what  really  happened  to  us 
up  there,  form  the  stock  upon  which  I  have 
to  draw  for  my  contributions  to  our  story 
telling  tournaments,  as  mamma  calls  them." 

"  I'm  sure  that  is  lovely,"  rejoined  Marian 
courteously;  u  I  should  think  they  would  be 
the  most  entertaining  kind  of  stories,  and  I 


112      A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE. 

hope  you  will  have  to  tell  them  all  so  that  I 
can  hear  them/' 

"  They  were  pretty  good  once,"  commented 
Kirk  characteristically. 

"  No  one  has  been  more  anxious  than  you, 
Kirk  Curry,  to  hear  those  stories,"  reproved 
his  mother  warmly. 

"You  needn't  listen,"  said  Charles,  turning 
to  his  brother  with  considerable  resentment 
in  his  manner.  "  Or,  better  still,  I  think  I 
won't  tell  any  story  at  all  this  time." 

"•  Now  that's  a  skin  !  "  elegantly  complained 
Max,  beginning  to  pucker  up  his  face  —  a 
proceeding  which  Val  always  contemplated 
with  calm  curiosity. 

Charles  colored,  and  was  about  to  make  a 
sharp  reply,  when  his  father  interposed  se 
verely:  "Go  ahead,  Charles.  You  know  we 
all  like  to  hear  your  camp-yarns.  1  wish  you 
might  leain  not  to  be  so  easily  teased." 

Charles  swallowed  his  wrath  in  his  usual 
amiable  manner,  and  opening  a  little  black 
diary,  studied  it  intently  for  a  moment. 

''Suppose  I  tell  you  one  of  Perriif  s  stories?  " 
he  suggested  at  last. 

"  A  good  idea,"  commented  his  father 
cheerfully.  "  I  had  almost  forgotten  Perrin/' 


A  PICXIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.      113 

"  And  remember  that  I  never  even  heard 
of  him,"  added  Marian. 

"What's  the  matter  with  the  catamount 
story  ?  "  asked  Kirk  conciliatingly.  Kirk 
was  really  very  fond  of  Charles's  camp-stories, 
and  it  was  only  his  contrary  spirit,  which  had 
been  "  on  the  rampage  "  ever  since  the  fire, 
which  had  made  him  belittle  them.  Perhaps, 
too,  Marian's  evident  anxiety  to  hear  them 
had  had  something  to  do  with  Kirk's  posi 
tion.  The  work  of  harmony  was  completed 
by  Max's  singing  out  in  reply  to  Kirk's  ques 
tion,  uOh  !  that's  all  right,"  whereupon  there 
was  a  laugh  all  around,  which  quite  restored 
that  mercurial  young  person  to  his  usual 
serenity,  and  Charles  proceeded  with  his 
tale. 

"  You  see,  Perrin  — this  is  for  your  benefit, 
Marian  —  was  a  great  White  Mountain  hunter 
and  guide.  I  wish  I  could  tell  his  story  just 
as  he  did,  but  of  course  I  can't.  lie  was  a 
grizzled  old  fellow,  nearly  seventy  years  old, 
and  chock-full  of  the  information  which  a 
man  gets  who  has  done  nothing  all  his  life 
except  to  range  the  woods  and  mountains, 
and  kill  bears  and  wild-cats  by  the  score,  and 
such." 


114     A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GUOVE. 

u  I  don't  think  that  saying  'such  '  just  that 
way,  is  very  good  grammar.  'Tain't  elegant, 
anyhow,"  criticised  Kirk  slyly. 

-  Oh  !  ain't,  ain't  it?  "  rejoined  Charles,  not 
quite  good-humoredly,  for  he  was  warming 
up  to  his  subject,  and  did  not  like  to  be  in 
terrupted.  •"•  You  want  to  l  close  up,'  young 
man,  or  there  will  be  trouble." 

"  Oh  !  the  story,  the  story,"  cried  their 
mother,  with  an  appealing  look  at  both  of 
them.  u  Kirk,  Mr.  Perrin  doesn't  pretend  to 
talk  good  grammar,  and  Charles,  you  know, 
is,  as  it  were,  partially  appearing  in  the  char 
acter  of  Mr.  Perrin." 

"  Oh  !  that's  too  thin,"  grumbled  Kirk. 
"  He's  forever  correcting  Max  and  me,  and 
now  when  we  catch  him  up,  it's  '  (),  no ! '  and 
all  sorts  of  excuses." 

Mr.  Curry  could  not  help  laughing,  and  he 
admitted  that  Charles  ought  to  be  compelled 
to  take  his  own  medicine  when  it  was  neces 
sary  ;  but  it  did  not  seem  to  him  to  be  just 
the  time  now,  for  his  mistake,  if  mistake  it 
were,  was  not  bad  enough.  He  therefore 
commanded  Kirk  to  keep  quiet,  and  not  to 
speak  until  the  story  was  done. 

>vlf  lie  will  keep  still,  I   can  go  on,  and   I 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.     115 

can't  till  he  does,"  muttered  Charles,  still 
with  an  air  of  offended  dignity. 

A  gratifying  silence  followed  this  remark, 
and  Charles,  somewhat  mollified,  again  took 
up  the  thread  of  his  discourse  :  "  Well,  one 
afternoon,  a  party  of  people  came  to  Mr.  Per- 
rin's,  and  said  that  the}'  wanted  to  climb 
Chocorua,  and  wouldn't  he  take  them  up? 
He  told  them  that  it  was  too  late  ;  that  they 
couldn't  possibly  get  up  there  and  down  again 
before  dark  ;  but  it  was  of  no  use.  They 
insisted  that  it  was  their  only  chance,  and 
with  him  to  guide  them,  they  were  not  in  the 
least  afraid.  Besides,  it  was  a  beautiful, 
clear  day,  and  the  air  was  crisp  and  cool. 
They  promised  to  pay  him  a  good  sum,  and 
after  arguing  a  while,  he  finally  consented  to 
convoy  them  up.  There  were  two  women 
and  three  or  four  men,  none  of  them  much 
used  to  mountain  climbing,  or  else,  as  Perrin 
said,  they  would  have  known  better  than  to 
start  out  at  three  in  the  afternoon  to  ascend  a 
rough  old  peak  like  Chocorua.  Besides,  as 
they  kept  getting  out  of  breath,  and  having 
to  stop  to  rest,  they  had  to  go  awfully  slow." 

"  Mamma,  is  it  correct  to  say  "  —  inter 
rupted  the  irrepressible  Kirk. 


11(3     A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  UROVK. 

"  Hush  !  "  said  his  mother  sternly,  though 
slie  felt  us  though  Kirk  were  not  unjustifiable. 
Her  look  and  tone  had  their  etl'ect,  and  Kirk 
unwillingly  subsided. 

"  They  reached  the  top  of  the  mountain," 
proceeded  Charles  calmly,  "at  about  six 
o'clock  "  — 

"  Oh  !  now,  pretty  soon  it  begins  to  get 
awfully  exciting,"'  murmured  Max. 

This  flattery  still  further  restored  Charles's 
equanimity,  and  he  began  to  enter  more  fully 
than  before  into  the  spirit  of  his  tale. 

"  As  I  was  saying,*'  he  repeated,  •'  they 
reached  the  top  of  the  mountain  about  six 
o'clock,  and  Perrin  said  that  he  never  saw 
the  view  from  there  as  he  saw  it  that  day. 
The  sun  was  low,  of  course,  and  the  sky 
lighted  up  with  rainbow  colors,  and  the  fields 
below  looked  as  though  one  might  almost 
touch  them  by  stretching  out  one's  hand. 
Of  course,  all  these  people,  who  were,  as  old 
Perrin  said,  of  the  most  "romantic'  kind, 
were  almost  wild  over  the  grandeur  of  the 
sight,  and  stood  there  'ohing'  and  'ahing' 
until  he  thought  he  should  never  get  them  to 
turn  toward  home.  After  nearly  an  hour  of 
delay,  he  finally  got  them  started,  and  by 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.     117 

half  an  hour  more  they  had  managed  to 
scramble  down  the  rocks.  I  have  been  over 
them  myself,  and  it  is  a  nerve-trying  trip 
even  in  the  brightest  daylight.  In  the  twi 
light  it  must  have  been  pretty  ticklish  work. 
13y  the  time  they  had  fairly  come  to  the 
woods,  it  was  dark.  Old  Perrin  went  ahead 
with  a  lantern,  and  they  all  came  trooping 
after  him,  as  close  to  him  as  they  could  get. 
Some  of  them  were  talking  and  laughing,  but 
most  of  them  were  too  nervous  to  talk,  and 
went  picking  their  way,  screeching  and  ex 
claiming  at  every  little  thing.  Of  course, 
they  were  scared  almost  to  death,  just  as  he 
warned  them  that  they  would  be,  when  they 
insisted  upon  going  up  at  so  late  an  hour. 

"  '  It's  an  awful  thing,'  old  Perrin  always 
says,  '  to  find  yourself  in  the  lone  woods  way 
up  old  Corway,  when  the  night  comes  on,' 
and  these  people  discovered  that  he  hadn't 
exaggerated  the  solemnity  of  the  situation 
a  bit.  They  knew  that  the  hill  was  just 
alive  with  bears  and  things,  for  he  had  told 
them  so. 

"  Well,  when  old  Perrin  saw  that  they 
were  almost  on  the  point  of  a  panic,  he  tried 
to  chirk  them  up  the  best  he  could,  and  he 


118      A  PIC X  1C  AT  THE  MAPLE  (iROVK. 

began  to  tell  encouraging  soils  of  stories,  and 
to  make  jokes  ;  but  all  the  time  he  had  to 
be  keeping  a  sharp  lookout,  for  there  wasn't 
a  gun  in  the  party,  and  nobody  had  a  knife 
except  himself  —  he  always  carries  one  in  a 
leather  sheath  at  his  side. 

"  All  of  a  sudden,  when  he  was  spying 
around,  he  saw,  as  plain  as  day,  a  pair  of 
glaring1  bright  eyes  looking  down  upon  him 
from  far  up  in  a  tree  just  above  him.  lie 
knew  well  enough  what  they  were.  They 
were  the  eyes  of  a  catamount." 

Charles  paused  a  moment. 

"  O,  misery  !  Do  go  ahead,"  groaned 
Max,  who  had  scarcely  breathed  since  he 
had  spoken  last.  "  I've  most  forgotten  what 
comes  next." 

'•  Do  let  me  get  my  breath,"  pleaded 
Charles.  '•  Well,  as  I  was  saying,  he  hadn't 
any  gun,  and  he  didn't  dare  to  say  a  word 
for  fear  of  plunging  the  whole  party  into  a 
panic.  So  on  they  went,  just  as  if  he  hadn't 
seen  anything  at  all.  He  laughed  and  joked 
harder  than  ever ;  but  his  eyes  were  open 
for  that  catamount,  you'd  better  believe.  lie 
knew  that,  as  long  as  the  talk  was  good  and 
loud,  the  creature  wouldn't  spring.  Cata- 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.      119 

mounts  are  kept  off  more  or  less  by  noise. 
Pen-in  used  to  say  that  by  whooping  at  just 
the  rig-lit  time,  even  in  a  bear's  face,  when  he 
was  pursuing  you,  you  could  make  him  turn 
tail  and  trot  away.  There  was  such  a  fierce 
gleam  in  this  fellow's  eyes,  that  Perrin  felt 
morally  sure  that  if  there  were  a  few  mo 
ments  of  quiet  in  the  party,  the  catamount 
would  spring  ;  and  a  catamount,  as  you 
know,  is  a  terrible  thing  among  ladies,  to 
say  nothing  about  gentlemen." 

"  Oh !  don't  stop  for  moral  reflections," 
grumbled  Kirk.  "  What  we  want  to  know 
is,  did  he  spring  ?  " 

u  When  the  time  comes,  I  shall  tell,  but 
not  before,"  said  Charles,  with  impressive 
seriousness.  "  The  party  went  on,  exclaim 
ing  at  every  twig  which  crackled  under  their 
feet,  and  Perrin  laughing  and  singing  and 
keeping  the  rest  as  noisy  as  he  could,  and 
all  the  while  hearing  the  branches  give  and 
sway  above  his  head,  as  the  great  catamount 
jumped  from  one  tree  to  another,  in  his 
efforts  to  keep  abreast  of  the  part}-.  It  was 
all  that  Perrin  could  do  to  make  his  observa 
tions  of  the  beast's  movements  in  such  a  way 
that  nobody  should  detect  those  fierce  eyes 


PICX1C  AT  THE  MAPLE  -(iltOVK. 


besides  himself,  but  he  managed  it  somehow. 
Perrin  says  that  it  seemed  two  hours  after 
they  got  into  the  woods,  and  lie  saw  the 
'  varmint'  first,  to  the  time  they  got  out  into 
the  'open'  near  the  house,  but  in  point  of 
fact,  it  was  only  a  short  hour.  It  is  a  good 
deal  easier,  you  know,  to  go  down  hill  than 
it  is  to  go  up.  Well,  just  before  they 
reached  'the  open,'  his  son  met  them,  carry 
ing  another  lantern  and  a  gun.  He  had 
begun  to  get  worried  about  them,  and  had 
thought  that  maybe  they  needed  some  assist 
ance.  He  came  in  the  nick  of  time,  for  just 
then  Perrin  got  a  tine  view  of  the  catamount 
—  a  ray  of  light  from  the  lantern  struck  full 
on  him  —  and  he  dropped  the  lantern  so 
quickly  that  it  went  out  like  a  flash  ;  but  the 
son's  lantern  gave  light  enough  for  his  pur 
pose.  He  seized  the  gun  —  it  was  already 
loaded  —  sighted  the  beast  for  just  a  quarter 
of  a  second,  aimed  as  nearly  as  he  could 
between  the  creature's  eyes,  and  —  down  he 
fell,  exactly  at  the  feet  of  one  of  the  ladies. 
Of  course,  she  fainted  dead  away"  ("Of 
course,"  murmured  Kirk,  with  an  air  of  inef 
fable  disdain),  "  and  as  soon  as  she  was 
brought  to  and  heard  how  the  catamount 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE.     121 

had  been  leaping  along  through  the  tree-tops 
right  above  her  head,  almost  ever  since  they 
had  entered  the  woods,  she  fainted  again, 
and  the  other  one  went  into  hysterics." 
(•'  You  bet  your  life  she  did,"  Kirk  muttered 
again  with  demoniac  glee,  which  led  his 
mother  to  remark:  "  Kirk,  your  language  is 
getting  altogether  too  strong.  You  must 
not  use  these  semi-profane  expressions.") 

"Perrin  said  that  none  of  those  people 
slept  a  wink  that  night,"  went  on  Charles. 
"  They  all  staid  at  his  house  ;  but  he  showed 
us  a  splendid  rifle  which  they  gave  him  for 
his  pluck  and  presence  of  mind,  and  lie  said 
he  guessed  that  they  never  would  set  out  to 
climb  a  wild  mountain  like  Chocorua  again 
on  the  verge  of  sunset.  Why,  just  think, 
if  he  had  told  them  anything  about  their 
danger  before  he  did,  as  likely  as  not  it  would 
have  killed  them,  just  about." 

"My!  I  wisht  I'd  V  been  there,"  sighed 
Max.  "  How  big  was  he,  Charlie  ?  " 

O 

"  I  can't  just  remember,  but  I  believe  it 
was  about  fifty  pounds  or  so." 

"  O,  my  !  I  do  wisht  I'd  'a'  been  there," 
wailed  Max  again. 

"  You  !     Yes,  you'd  have  howled  and  cried 


\-2-2     A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  tiKOVE. 

and  kept  the  catamount  off,  sure  enough," 
remarked  Kirk.  '"Nobody  else  would  have 
needed  to  make  a  noise  if  you  had  been 
there." 

"  Kirk,  Kirk,''  reproved  his  mother. 

"  Well,  he  would,"  insisted  Kirk.  '•  Great 
cry-baby  !  And,  mamma,  did  you  notice 
how  many  times  Charlie  said  '  well  '! ' 

"  I  don't  think  he  says  it  any  more  than 
you  do,"  replied  his  mother ;  "  but  lie  did 
use  it  more  than  he  ought  —  we  all  do. 
And  now,  Mrs.  Wellman,  it  is  your  turn." 

"  I  thought  that  Kirk  came  next,"  pro 
tested  Mrs.  Wellman. 

"  Generally,  you  come  after  Charles,  Mrs. 
Wellman,"  Kirk  reminded  her. 

"But  if  Mrs.  Wellman  wishes,  you  \\ill 
bear  your  share  next,  Kirk,"  said  his  mother, 
in  a  low  voice. 

Mr.  Curry,  who  had  been  half-dozing  in  a 
particularly  comfortable  attitude,  opened  his 
eyes  long  enough  to  glare  admonishingly  at 
Kirk,  and  that  young  man  began  to  prepare 
himself,  with  a  slight  scowl  on  his  forehead, 
for  reciting  the  tale  which  was  expected  of 
him,  when  there  was  a  sudden  diversion. 

Val    had    trudged  off   just  before  Charlie 


A  PICNIC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GliOVE.      123 

had  begun  his  story,  and  was  in  plain  sight 
of  the  whole  party,  picking  raspberries  on 
the  edge  of  the  woods,  about  twenty  rods 
away.  As  Mrs.  Curry  uttered  her  appeal  to 
Kirk,  and  as  Mr.  Curry  opened  his  eyes, 
Marian  started  up  with  a  little  scream, 
which,  though  a  tiny  noise,  yet  revealed  in 
tense  feeling,  and  darted  toward  Val.  She 
paused  only  long  enough  to  say,  with  the 
most  earnest  emphasis : 

"  Don't  be  frightened.  I  think  I  can  man 
age  everything  without  any  help,  only  just 
as  soon  as  Val  turns  to  come  to  you  —  when 
you  hear  me  tell  him  to  come  to  you  —  beat 
on  the  tin  pail  as  hard  as  you  can.  Don't 
forget  it  for  anything.  Beat  on  the  tin  pail 
as  hard  as  you  can  until  I  ask  you  to  stop." 

As  she  had  been  speaking,  she  was  emp 
tying  the  water  from  the  tin  pail  in  which 
they  had  brought  it  from  the  spring,  and  as 
she  concluded,  amid  the  dazed  silence  of 
them  all  she  threw  it  into  Mrs.  Curry's  lap. 
Then  she  ran,  as  Max  described  it  afterward 
to  the  Mellows  boy,  '•"•  with  all  her  dead 
might,"  in  the  direction  of  the  woods  and 
Val. 

"  What   is    it  ?      What   do   you    mean  ? " 


121     A  PICMC  AT  THE  MAPLE  GROVE. 

gasped  one  after  another,  as  they  heard 
Marian's  hasty  words,  and  sa\v  how  fright 
fully  in  earnest  she  was. 

But  there  was  no  need  of  any  explanation 
when  they  looked  in  the  direction  in  which 
she  was  running.  There  stood  little  Val,  ap 
parently  paralyzed  with  terror,  while  around 
his  head  and  shoulders  was  a  dark  swarm, 
composed,  as  it  seemed,  of  thousands  of  bees, 
wavering  back  and  forth,  rising  and  falling, 
as  they  buzzed  as  with  a  fatal  menace  over 
the  darling  of  the  ilock. 


CHAPTER   V. 

KIRK   STILL   HOLDS   OUT. 

MARIAX  approached  little  Val  swiftly  and 
fearlessly,  but  very  quietly.  Mr.  Curry,  on 
taking  in  the  situation,  had  rushed  forward 
to  interfere  himself  and  to  call  her  back,  but 
the  intelligent  and  confident  words  which 

o 

she  had  spoken  when  she  was  leaving  them 
all,  and  the  rapidity  of  her  motions,  ren 
dered  it  impossible  to  stop  her.  He  there 
fore  could  do  nothing  but  groan  to  himself, 
and  wait. 

With  what  seemed  to  the  terrified  be 
holders  perfect  foolhardiness,  she  lifted  the 
alarmed  child  in  her  arms,  and  the  bees  were 
seen  to  be  passing  from  him  to  her.  In  a 
black  cloud  they  settled  upon  her  waving 
light-brown  hair,  all  over  her  fair  neck,  up 
and  down  her  dress  of  black  nun's  veiling. 
125 


KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT. 


Then  the  agonized  family  saw  her  push  Val 
away  from  her,  as  though  she  were  telling 
him  to  run  to  his  mother,  and  the  beautiful 
boy  came  scampering  over  the  rough  pasture 
ground  toward  that  haven  of  rest.  Then 
Charles  remembered  Marian's  directions,  and 
he  began  to  move  slowly  toward  her,  beating 
"  as  hard  as  he  could  "  upon  the  tin  pail, 
with  a  stone  which  he  had  caught  up  for  the 
purpose. 

Marian  walked  deliberately  up  to  a  great, 
broken  tree-trunk  near  by,  where  Val  had 
been  standing,  and  calmly  wiped  off  the  bees 
from  her  arms  and  neck  as  though  they  had 
been  flowers.  They  seemed  to  be  stunned  by 
the  noise,  and  made  no  resistance  to  her 
motions,  so  that  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes, 
she  came  toward  Charlie  without  a  bee  upon 
her  person. 

In  a  speechless  agony  of  gratitude,  her 
aunt  folded  her  in  a  long,  silent  embrace. 
Marian  was  evidently  laboring,  in  spite  of  her 
outward  composure,  under  a  great  emotional 
strain,  and  trembled  like  the  blossoms  on  the 
hop-vine  which  grew  over  her  window  at  the 
farmhouse.  "  We  must  get  home  !  "  cried 
Mrs.  Currv,  almost  hysterically,  as  she  broke 


KIRK  STILL   HOLDS   OUT.  127 

away  from  Marian,  after  having  almost  stran 
gled  her  in  the  excess  of  her  feeling.  "•  Those 
horrible  bees  may  attack  us  again  if  \ve  don't. 
Gather  up  the  things,  boys.  Stay  not  on  the 
order  of  your  going.  Hurry  !  " 

In  almost  a  panic,  they  cleared  the  ground 
of  their  picnicking  dishes  and  baskets,  and 
rushed  pell-mell  down  the  hill,  even  Mr. 
Curry  making  no  very  violent  protest  against 
this  summary  way  of  doing  things. 

They  scarcely  spoke  on  their  way  down, 
and  nobody  remembered,  until  Mrs.  Wellman 
wished  to  use  it  the  next  day,  that  the  tin  pail 
which  Charles  had  employed  as  a  drum  had 
been  left  behind.  As  Mr.  Curry  had  gone 
back  to  the  city  by  that  time,  and  the  boys 
openly  avowed  themselves  afraid  to  go  near 
the  bee-haunted  spot,  and  as  Mrs.  Curry  was 
even  more  afraid  to  have  them  than  they 
were  to  go  themselves,  the  pail  might  have 
remained  up  there  all  winter,  had  not  Mr. 
Wellman  been  obliged  to  pass  near  the  spot 
in  searching  for  a  wandering  cow,  and  thought 
of  the  pail,  and  hunted  it  up. 

It  was  not  until  they  were  safe  in  the  cool, 
quiet  parlor  of  the  farmhouse,  that  Marian 
could  get  breath  and  composure  enough  to 


128  KIEK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT, 

tell  them  what  she  had  done,  and  how  she 
had  happened  to  be  able  to  do  it. 

"  You  see,"  she  explained,  when  they  had 
all  gathered  around  her,  "  we  used  to  keep 
ever  so  many  bees  out  in  California,  and  I 
found  when  I  was  a  very  little  girl  that  I 
was  what  they  call  out  there  a  natural  bee- 
charmer.  The  bees  would  always  come  to  ma 
from  anybody  else,  and  I  have  hived  probably 
a  hundred  swarms.  When  I  saw  Val  with 
those  bees  around  his  head,  for  a  moment  my 
heart  stood  still.  I  was  afraid  he  would  be 
stung  to  death,  but  a  kind  Providence  kept 
him  from  struggling,-  or  even  moving,  until  I 
could  get  to  him.  Then  it  was  all  easy.  It 
did  not  occur  to  me,  until  I  was  almost  beside 
him,  that  I  might  not  have  the  power  over 
these  bees  that  I  had  over  those  at  home  — 
that  they  might  be  of  a  very  different  sort  — 
but  I  saw  that  I  must  not  even  think  of  fail 
ing,  so  I  went  right  on,  and  it  was  all  right. 
Of  course,  it  was  a  mere  chance  that  I  was 
born  a  bee-charmer,  but  wasn't  it  a  fortunate 
chance?  I  am  so  glad." 

'•I  should  think  it  was,"  sobbed  Mrs. 
Curry,  throwing  her  arms  around  Marian 
again,  and  kissing  her  over  and  over  with 


KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT.  129 

profound  feeling.  "  You  have  saved  the 
life  of  our  darling  baby.  They  do  not  keep 
bees  up  here,  and  none  of  us  know  anything 
about  bees.  If  you  hadn't  been  with  us,  I 
don't  know  what  we  should  have  done." 

"  You  did  it  as  prompt  and  clean  as  though 
you  had  been  forty  instead  of  fourteen," 
echoed  Mrs.  Wellman.  "•  I  shall  tell  every 
body  about  it  for  years  to  come  —  what  a 
master  hand  you  are  with  bees." 

4i  No  family  should  be  without  a  Mary 
Ann,"  muttered  Kirk,  as,  each  with  a  basket 
in  his  hand,  they  strolled  toward  the  kitchen 
after  Marian  had  explained  things. 

"  Kirk  Curry,  I  believe  you  are  the  meanest 
boy  on  the  face  of  the  earth !  "  cried  Charles, 
flushing  red  with  indignation  at  Kirk's  un- 

o  o 

worthy  thrust.  "  I'll  put  a  head  on  you  as 
sure  as  I  live,  if  you  say  another  word  like 
that  you  just  got  off." 

"  Oh !  she's  too  important  altogether," 
grumbled  Kirk,  loftily  ignoring  Charles's 
threat.  "I  rather  guess  we  should  have  man 
aged  to  worry  along  somehow  if  she  had 
staid  in  California.  She's  too  fresh;  that's 
what  ails  her." 

u  And  you  have  the  face  to  talk  so  about  a 


13)  KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT. 

girl  who  has  just  saved  your  brother's  life. 
And  to  call  her  4  Mary  Ann  ! '  "  Charles  fairly 
hissed  between  his  teeth,  while  his  cheeks 
were  white  with  rage.  "•  Take  that,  you  — 
you  puppy,  you  !  "  and  in  another  moment 
Kirk  was  lying  in  the  trampled  grass  of  the 
dooryard,  with  astronomical  wonders  of  vari 
ous  kinds  dancing  before  his  eyes.  His  plac 
able  and  gentle  brother,  who  h;id  not  struck 
him  for  years  before,  had  actually  knocked 
him  down,  and  then  he  marched  out  to  the 
kitchen  and  delivered  his  basket,  without  so 
much  as  stopping  to  pick  the  howling  boy 
from  the  sandy  turf  on  which  he  had  fallen. 
Mrs.  Curry,  however,  hastened  to  the  scene 
and  endeavored  to  elicit  from  Kirk  the 
history  of  the  fracas;  but  Kirk,  who  was 
enraged  with  mollification  and  pain  —  for 
Charlie's  fist  was  heavy  —  returned  only  very 
vague  and  incoherent  replies  to  her  questions. 
Subsequently,  Charles  explained  the  whole 
situation  to  his  father  and  mother,  and  it  is 
needless  to  say  that  he  was  let  off  with  a  very 
moderate  reprimand.  He  was  not  even  made 
to  apologize  to  Kirk,  which  Kirk  felt  to  be  a 
bitter  insult,  thouirh  he  knew  he  had  deserved 

o 

a  worse  punishment  than  even  Charles  gave 


KIRK   STILL    HOLDS  OUT.  131 

him.  It  wasn't  Charlie's  place,  he  argued,  to 
be  knocking  his  brothers  about,  and  this 
was  undoubtedly  true. 

The  summer  passed  on.  In  the  shade  of 
the  great  butternut-tree,  the  children  played 
croquet.  They  fished  up  and  down  the  trout- 
brook,  and  they  picked  berries  whole  days  at 
a  time.  The  larger  boys  did  many  a  good 
day's  work  in  the  hay-field  for  Mr.  Wellman, 
and,  later,  on  the  new  barn,  which  was  slowly 
going  up.  Two  or  three  times  a  week  all  the 
young  people  went  down  to  the  river,  two 
miles  away,  and  bathed.  Marian  proved  to 
be  an  expert  swimmer  ;  in  strength  and  en 
durance  even  Mr.  Curry,  who  called  himself 
a  more  than  commonly  vigorous  swimmer, 
was  no  match  for  her.  She  had,  indeed,  been 
trained  to  the  water  from  her  babyhood. 

Charles,  Max  and  Val  were  by  this  time 
very  fond  of  her.  She  was,  indeed,  of  so 
sunny  and  affectionate  a  nature  that  she  was 
a  most  lovable  companion.  She  had  a  quick 
temper,  which  sometimes  blazed  out  in  spite 
of  the  efforts  which  she  made  to  control  it, 
and  in  spite  of  the  strong  religious  princi 
ples,  which  no  one  who  watched  her  long 
could  fail  to  see  were  the  guiding  ones  of  her 


132  KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT. 

sweet  young  life.  But  Kirk  still  held  aloof. 
When  with  his  brothers,  he  would  never 
allude  to  his  cousin  in  any  other  way  than  as 
"that  Mary  Ann,"  and,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  he  now  and  then  called  her  u  Man- 
Ann"  to  her  face,  \\hich  naturally  made  her 
angry.  At  such  times,  her  very  forehead 
would  flush  darkly,  and  wrathful  tears  would 
gather  in  her  eyes,  but  so  far  she  "  had  had 
grace  given  her,"  as  she  expressed  it,  in  writ 
ing  home  to  her  dearest  girl-friend,  to  hold 
her  tongue  through  all  of  Kirk's  thousand 
and  one  clever  little  provocations.  She 
treated  him,  too,  with  perfect  justice,  tried  to 
conciliate  him  when  he  was  cross,  and  to 
comfort  him  when  his  side  was  beaten  at  cro 
quet  (he  always  managed  to  get  on  the  side 
against  her),  and  seemed  to  try  to  make  her 
self  as  agreeable  to  him  as  to  the  others  ; 
though  when  she  found,  as  she  did  very  early 
in  her  acquaintance  with  him,  that  he  was 
not  as  cordial  to  her  as  he  should  have  been, 
she  ceased  to  try  as  hard  as  she  had  during 
the  first  few  days  of  her  stay  to  be  good  com 
rades  with  him.  She  collected  bugs  with 
Charles,  fed  and  nursed  the  hens,  and  petted 
Charcoal  and  her  kittens,  with  Max,  and 


KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT.  133 

played  letters  and  go-bang  with  him  and 
Val. 

"  If  Marian  had  been  made  expressly  to  fit 
into  this  family,  she  could  not  have  been  bet 
ter  planned,"  Mrs.  Curry  said  to  her  husband. 
"  All  of  us  love  her  but  Kirk,  and  it  is  only 
his  own  naughty  spirit  which  stands  between 
them." 

"  It  seems  as  though  even  he  couldn't  hold 
out,  when  he  sees  how  clever  she  is,"  re 
marked  Mr.  Curry.  "  Kirk  is  very  quick  to 
appreciate  ability." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  is  the  secret  of  his  jeal 
ousy  of  Marian,"  rejoined  Mrs.  Curry  signifi 
cantly.  "She  beats  him  so  easily  at  all  of 
his  sports,  and  solves  so  quickly  the  algebra 
problems  upon  which  he  has  been  at  work 
since  he  came  up  here,  that  it  chagrins  him. 
But  it  is  a  good  lesson  for  him,  and  in 
some  way  the  latent  nobility  of  his  nature 
will  assert  itself  in  the  end.  It  is  hard  for 
Kirk  to  own  himself  in  the  wrong.  I  don't 
know  that  he  will  ever  get  into  a  right  frame 
of  mind  toward  Marian.  Sometimes  I  feel 
completely  discouraged  over  him." 

And,  indeed,  she  might  well  feel  discour 
aged,  for  the  first  week  in  September  arrived, 


134  KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT. 

and  still  Kirk  maintained  his  half-defiant, 
half -teasing  attitude  toward  his  sweet  girl- 
cousin.  He  was  apparently  as  unsubdued 
as  ever. 

It  was  a  grand  season  that  year  for  black 
berries.  The  pastures  around  the  Wellnian 
farm  were  full  of  them.  The  great,  prickly 
bushes  drooped  fairly  to  the  earth  under  their 
luscious  burden.  Many  of  the  berries  were  an 
inch  or  more  in  length,  and  as  plump  and 
juicy  as  the  richest  oranges.  Marian  was  not 
used  to  such  fruit,  and  she  grew  to  be  raven 
ously  fond  of  them. 

On  a  certain  evening  when  the  heat  was 
more  -than  summery  in  its  fierceness,  and 
when  the  whole  family  were  exhausted  by  a 
long  siege  of  such  weather,  which  had  been 
worse  than  any  that  August  had  brought 
them,  Marian  begged  that  they  might  go 
berrying  "just  once  more"  on  the  follow 
ing  day. 

"  We  haven't  been  for  a  week  now,  on  ac 
count  of  the  heat,"  she  pleaded,  "and  the 
season  is  getting  so  late  we  may  not  be  able 
to  go  at  all,  if  we  don't  go  soon." 

"  That  is  what  you  said  the  last  time  we 
went,"  commented  Kirk. 


KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT.  135 

"  I  know  it,  and  it  is  what  I  may  say  the 
next  time  I  speak  of  going,"  retorted  Marian, 
good-hum oredly,  but  not  without  spirit, 

"  Besides,  you  tore  your  dress  all  to  flinders 
the  last  time  we  went,"  he  continued. 

4-  1  have  two  or  three  more  left." 

"  You  tore  your  clothes  as  badly  as  Marian, 
Kirk,"  interposed  his  mother.  "  Maybe  that 
is  why  you  seem  opposed  to  going  again." 

"  And  you  fell  down  lower  than  McGinty," 
added  Max,  with  a  vague  idea  of  protecting 
Marian. 

"•  What  if  I  did  ?  "  snapped  Kirk. 

"  Oh  !  you  was  so  awful  prompt  tellin' 
what  other  folks  did,  I  thought  maybe  you'd 
like  to  know  what  you  did  yourself." 

"Max,  Max!"  groaned  Charles,  " 'Xou 
was!'  —  and  do  put  on  your  y's.  There  is 
nothing  so  vulgar  as  leaving  off  #'«." 

"  Well,  shall  we  put  on  our  blackberry 
clo'es  when  we  get  up  in  the  morning?" 
asked  Max,  impatiently  ignoring  his  con 
scientious  brother's  attempts  to  improve  his 
grammar. 

'k  I  am  willing,"  consented  Mrs.  Curry. 

"  We'll  go  uj)  in  the  peck  pasture,"  said 
Charles.  "That  is  the  very  best  place  in  the 


136  KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT. 

whole  country  round  for  late  berries  ;  and 
there  are  lots  of  beetles  up  there  among-  all 
those  dead  pines.  There  are  ever  so  many 
tiger-beetles,  and  while  the  rest  of  you  are 
picking  berries,  I  will  get  a  stack  of  beetles.'' 

"And  then  you'll  be  wanting  to  eat  our 
berries,"  sniffed  Kirk.  '•  I  think  I  see  myself 
picking  berries  for  you  to  eat,  while  you 
calmly  snoop  around  for  beetles.  If  you  go, 
you've  got  to  help  iill  the  baskets ;  hasn't  he, 
mamma?" 

"No,  indeed,  he  hasn't,"  interrupted  Marian 
warmly.  "  Of  course,  he  shall  get  all  the 
beetles  he  wants.  And,  Charles,  you  shall 
have  all  my  berries  to  eat  that  you  like. 
Kirk  evidently  doesn't  care  whether  science 
gets  on  or  not.  I  do." 

"  Oh  !  don't  I  ?  "  said  Kirk,  in  his  ugliest 
tone.  "  You  talk  as  though  you  were  the 
01113-  one  who  cared  anything  about  Charlie." 

"Kirk,  Kirk!"  called  his  mother,  in  her 
most  penetrating  tones. 

Kirk  dropped  his  head,  and  changed  the 
subject  by  remarking  that  he  guessed  he 
would  go  to  bed,  which  he  straightway  pro 
ceeded  to  do,  Max  following  him.  Mrs. 
Curry  went  to  their  rooms  shortly  afterward 


KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT.  137 

to  see  about  their  clothes,  and  Charles  and 
Marian  were  left  alone. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  be,  Charlie,  when 
you  are  a  man?"  inquired  Marian,  after  a 
pause. 

"  Oh  !  I  don't  really  know,"  answered 
Charles,  hesitatingly.  "  I  am  awfully  fond 
of  my  Greek  and  German,  and  the  other 
languages.  I  love  to  trace  the  words  down 
to  their  roots,  and  see  how  similarly  many 
of  them  are  derived.  Last  spring  I  thought 
about  it  a  good  deal.  The  study  of  that  sort 
of  thing  is  called  Comparative  Philology, 
isn't  it?" 

"  I  believe  so,"  laughed  Marian  ;  "  but  I 
don't  know  anywhere  near  as  much  about 
those  things  as  you  do." 

"  Oh  !  yes,  }*ou  do,"  declared  Charles, 
coloring  modestly  ;  "  well,  for  a  while,  I 
thought  comparative  philology  would  be 
pretty  good  fun,  but  after  all,  I  couldn't  do 
justice  to  that  and  to  beetles,  too,  and  I 
must  study  beetles.  Why,  if  I  should  give 
my  whole  lifetime  to  beetles,  Marian,  I 
should  never  begin  to  know  them  all,  and 
their  habits  and  history.  I  couldn't,  as  you 
might  say,  so  much  as  scratch  the  ground,  if 


138  KIKK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT. 

I  should  work  at  them  all  the  time  till  I  was 
a  hundred.  But  I  propose  to  give  my  whole 
life  to  beetles,  just  the  same." 

"  Oh  !  dear  me,"  was  all  that  Marian  could 
say. 

"  Yes;  everything  has  got  to  slide,"  con 
tinued  Charles  oracularly.  "  I'm  just  going 
for  beetles  with  all  my  dead  might,  as  Max 
says." 

Marian  laughed  outright  now. 

"•  Oh  !  you  dear,  funny  old  boy,"  she  said, 
patting  his  shoulder  affectionately;  ul'm  sure 
I  wish  you  all  success,  and  I  will  help  you 
all  I  can  ;  but  if  we  are  going  to  accomplish 
anything  in  this  world,  we  must,  as  your 
mother  says,  get  our  regular  sleep  :  so  good 
night." 

The  blackberrying  plan  was  carried  out 
the  next  day.  It  had  been  decided  that  they 
should  all  go  to  the  peck  pasture,  as  Charles 
had  suggested.  This  resort  was  so  called  lie- 
cause  no  one  was  supposed  to  go  blackberry- 
ing  there  without  bringing  away  at  least  a 
peck  of  berries. 

It  was  a  merry  party  that  tumbled  into  the 
farm  wagon  at  eight  o'clock  the  next  morn 
ing.  Everybody  wore  their  oldest  clothes, 


fsii}':  MI-TKP  TIII-:  < -1111,1)  IN  MKK  AUMS. 


KIKK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT.  141 

and  felt  correspondingly  reckless.  Three 
seats  —  otherwise  plain  boards  —  had  been 
placed  across  the  wagon,  and  on  these  Mrs. 
Curry,  Mrs.  Wellman  and  Marian  sat,  while 
the  four  boys  capered  about,  wrestling, 
punching  each  other,  singing  snatches  of 
songs,  knocking  each  other's  hats  oft',  and 
otherwise  enjoying  themselves  after  the  in 
comprehensible  manner  of  boys.  The  floor 
of  the  wagon  was  filled  with  baskets  and 
pails,  though  Mrs.  Wellman  had  taken  pains 
to  see  that  these  were  not  exposed  to  the 
ravages  of  the  boys. 

It  is  impossible  to  imagine  a  more  beauti 
ful  scene  than  that  through  which  they  rode. 
It  was  four  miles  to  the  peck  pasture,  mostly 
up  hill.  A  large  part  of  the  way  took  them 
through  dense  woods,  which  were  full  of  the 
soft,  mysterious  vapors  of  the  warm  Septem 
ber  weather.  The  dew  lay  thick  on  every 
thing,  and  the  soft  sunshine  lighted  up  the 
whole  with  waving  streaks  of  light.  It  was 
not  strange  that  they  were  all  of  them  in  the 
highest  spirits. 

Once  arrived  at  the  pasture,  it  seemed  im 
possible  to  decide  which  direction  to  take, 
for  heavily  laden  bushes  beckoned  from 


\4"2  KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT. 

every  point,  and  each  person  obeyed  his  own 
sweet  will  in  the  matter,  Val  tugging  at  Ins 
mother's  skirts,  with  a  little  basket  hanging 
in  a  business-like  manner,  from  his  arm. 
Marian  went  off  by  herself,  and  after  picking 
hard  for  an  hour,  and  rinding  the  largest  and 
sweetest  berries,  as  she  afterward  declared, 
that  she  had  ever  seen  in  her  life,  sat  down 
on  a  fallen  log  to  rest.  Here  she  was  sur 
prised  by  Charles,  who,  with  a  little  bottle  in 
his  hand,  and  poking  among  the  ruins  of 
neighboring  logs  with  a  sharp  stick,  almost 
ran  over  her  before  he  saw  her. 

"I'm  having  the  most  remarkable  luck, 
Marian,"  he  said  joyfully.  "  Just  see  !  " 

He  held  up  his  bottle  full  of  wriggling 
specimens. 

"  I've  emptied  this  twice  into  my  alcohol 
bottle  in  the  wagon,"  he  continued,  "and 
here  I  have  it  twice  full  again.  My !  but 
I'm  tired.  I  haven't  had  an  instant's  let-up 
since  I  began." 

"Neither  have  I,"  said  Marian;  "but  I 
have  had  such  good  success,  too,  that  I 
thought  I  might  indulge  myself  in  a  mo 
ment's  repose.  See  !  You  are  not  going 
without  blackberries,  Charlie." 


KIRK  STILL   HOLDS   OUT.  143 

Charles  tasted  of  a  few  from  the  top  of  her 
heaping  two-quart  measure,  and  pronounced 
them  unexceptionable.  As  they  sat  together 
upon  the  old  log  they  managed  to  make  quite 
a  luncheon  from  the  measure.  The  two 
quarts  were  seriously  reduced  when  they  had 
finished,  though  fortunately  Marian  had  filled 
it  once  before  since  they  had  arrived. 

"  Queer  about  blackberries,  isn't  it,  Mar 
ian  ? "  said  Charles,  as  he  munched  away. 
•k  You  eat  so  many  of  them  one  day  that  it 
seems  as  though  you  never  could  bear  the 
sight  of  one  again,  and  the  next  day  you  can 
eat  twice  as  many  of  them  as  you  ate  the  day 
before.  Every  summer  we  are  up  here  it  is 
the  same  way.  But  some  summers  the  supply 
runs  short.  The  buds  get  blasted,  or  there 
is  a  drought  or  something.  Then  we  fairly 
suffer,  I  can  tell  you.  We  almost  wish  we 
had  never  known  how  good  blackberries  are, 
and  then  we  shouldn't  miss  them  so." 

u  Just  look  at  that  bush  over  there,  Charlie," 
remarked  Marian  reflectively;  "it  is  almost 
breaking  under  its  load  of  rich,  lovely  berries. 
And  see  this  one  here.  It  isn't  six  feet  away 
from  the  other,  and  yet  the  berries  are  just 
as  seedy  and  poor  as  they  can  be." 


144  KlIiK  STILL    HOLDS  OUT. 

"Oh!  it  isn't  so  very  queer,''  explained 
Charles,  philosophically.  "  The  roots  go 
down  pretty  deep,  you  know,  and  the  roots 
of  that  one  probably  strike  some  rich  moist 
soil,  while  the  roots  of  this  one  go  into  rocks 
and  sand." 

"  Very  likely  that's  it,"  assented  Marian,. 

"It's  like  people,"  continued  Charles  alle- 
gorically.  "  Some  people's  lives  are  rich  and 
full,  because  they  have  laid  hold  on  deep 
things,  as  the  Bible  says,  you  know,  and 
others  close  by  them  live  poor,  meager  lives 
because  they  haven't." 

"Charles,  you  mustn't  be  a  philologist  nor 
a  naturalist,"  exclaimed  Marian,  with  convic 
tion.  "  You  must  be  a  minister." 

"That's  just  what  mamma  says  sometimes," 
conceded  Charles ;  "but  you  know  I  must  get 
beetles." 

"  You're  just  a  precious  old  goose,"  laughed 
Marian,  regarding  him  with  fond  affection. 
"  I  wonder  if  you  really  will  stick  to  it." 

"  At  any  rate,"  rejoined  Charles,  rising, 
"  I'm  sticking  to  it  to-day  better  than  you  are 
to  your  berry-picking,  unless  you  go  at  it 
pretty  soon." 

He  began  to  prowl  around  after  his  beloved 


KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT.  145 

bugs  with  renewed  ardor,  and  Marian,  being 
thus  admonished,  resumed  her  picking,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  had  refilled  the  two-quart 
measure  which  she  and  Charles  had  so  wo- 
fully  depleted.  By  a  half-hour  more,  she 
had  filled  the  six-quart  pail,  which  she  had 
kept  within  a  convenient  distance  of  her  on 
the  ground,  and  had  also  piled  to  the  top  for 
a  fourth  time  the  two-quart  measure.  She 
was  just  thinking,  as  she  sat  resting  a  moment 
from  her  labors,  that  she  would  call  as  loud 
as  she  could,  and  see  if  she  could  not  summon 
Charles  to  help  her  in  carrying  the  large  pail 
to  the  wagon,  when  the  sound  of  a  famil 
iar  wail  struck  upon  her  ear.  Following  its 
stentorian  guidance,  she  soon  came  upon 
Max,  who  was  sitting  on  a  mossy  knoll  in 
the  woods,  whither  he  said  that  he  had  run, 
after  having  stumbled  into  a  hornet's  nest, 
and  having  been  stung  by  a  number  of  its  in 
habitants.  Marian  plastered  his  stings,  Avhich 
finally  dwindled  to  two,  with  mud.  This 
soon  relieved  the  pain,  and,  as  Charles  had 
also  come  up,  attracted  by  Max's  cries,  the 
three  young  people  made  their  way  to 
Marian's  pail,  and  lugged  it  and  the  smaller 
receptacle  back  to  the  vicinity  of  the  wagon. 


140  KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT. 

The  figures  of  the  others  were  visible  from 
time  to  time,  us  they  flitted  about  among  the 
clumps  of  bushes  on  the  hillside  above  them. 
They  had  evidently  failed  to  gather  as  many 
berries  as  they  wished,  and  the  three  young 
people  found  a  comfortable  place  to  sit  down, 
and  then  waited  patiently  for  the  rest  to  come. 

"  Seems  to  me  you  haven't  been  at  work 
much,  Max,"  remarked  Charles,  with  an  air 
of  reproof.  All  that  Max  had  to  show  for 
the  two  or  three  hours  which  he  had  spent  in 
the  pasture,  was  a  six-quart-pail  about  half- 
full  of  rather  "  scrawny  "  berries. 

This  chiding  remonstrance  made  Max's 
face  pucker  up  ominously. 

"At  work!"  he  whined  protestingly;  "I 
guess  I  filled  this  pail  once,  and  emptied  it 
into  Mrs.  Wellman's  big  basket  up  on  the 
hill  there.  And  then  I  'most  filled  it  agahi, 
and  the  hornets  came  after  me." 

"  I  dare  say  they  were  yellow-jackets," 
commented  Charles,  severely,  "only  I  never 
can  make  you  see  the  difference." 

"  I  don't  care  what  they  ?<vjx,"  muttered 
Max;  "I  know  they  bit  me  like  everything, 
and  seared  me  so  that  I  spilled  my  berries  all 
over.  Why,  I  had  this  pail  'most  full." 


KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT.  147 

"  Oh !  you  needn't  tell  me  you  have  filled 
that  pail  twice  this  morning,"  cried  Charles 
incredulously. 

"  Well,  not  quite  full,"  admitted  Max  con 
scientiously,  "but  pretty  near  full  —  a  good 
deal  fuller,"  he  added,  brightly,  bethinking 
himself  of  Charles's  probable  morning  occu 
pations,  "  than  you  have  rilled  anything, 
Charlie  Curry." 

"  I've  filled  four  bottles  with  bugs,  1  tell 
you, "answered  Charles  defensively,  "and"  — 

"  By  the  way,"  interrupted  Marian,  who 
detested  these  little  bickerings  among  the 
boys,  and  always  tried  to  change  the  subject 
when  she  possibly  could,  "  look  at  that  old 
black  house  up  there  on  the  hillside.  It 
must  be  a  mile  or  more  from  any  of  the 
others.  There  are  people  living  there,  too, 
for  I  can  see  clothes  hung  out  on  a  line  to 
dry.  I  wonder  who  it  is  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  their  names,"  replied 
Charles;  "but,  as  a  friend,  I  would  advise 
you  to  keep  away  from  there,  for  they  have 
an  awful  dog.  He  scared  Kirk  and  me 
almost  to  death,  showing  his  teeth  and 
growling  at  us,  one  day  when  we  were  ex 
ploring  the  country.  I  don't  mind  a  bark' 


148  KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT. 

ing  dog,  but  this  kind  that  shows  its  teeth, 
and  makes  no  remark  hut  a  series  of  low 
growls,  I  have  my  opinion  of." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  that  Kirk  really 
gave  up  that  there  was  anything  on  earth 
that  he  is  afraid  of?  "  inquired  Marian. 

lk  Oh  !  we  didn't  either  of  us  say  anything," 
said  Charles.  "  We  just  took  to  our  heels, 
and  never  looked  behind  us  till  we  had 
reached  the  cold  spring.  By  that  time,  we 
were  wetter  than  the  spring,  a  good  deal. 
We  don't  go  up  that  way  now  unless  we  are 
armed.  That  makes  me  think.  There's  a 
story  connected  with  that  old  house.  Mr. 
Wellman  told  it  to  us  the  day  we  had  our 
little  adventure  up  there.  He  said  that 
when  his  father  was  a  little  boy,  on  the  old 
farm  here,  a  family  by  the  name  of  Liscum 
lived  up  there.  There  were  several  boys  in 
it,  and  one  of  them,  Sam,  was  a  great  cow 
ard.  In  those  days,  all  the  men  belonged  to 
the  militia,  and  as  soon  as  these  Liscum  boys 
grew  big  enough  to  handle  a  musket,  they 
enlisted  in  the  militia  companies,  like  all  the 
rest.  Sam  had  disgraced  himself  on  several 
training  days,  by  being  afraid  to  fire  off  his 
gun,  and  when  the  third  one  came  around, 


KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT.  149 

his  mother  gave  him  an  awful  talking  to,  and 
told  him  if  he  did  not  behave  himself  that 
day,  there  would  be  trouble.  During  the 
day,  Sam's  company  drilled  like  all  the  rest, 
and  they  loaded  and  fired  six  times,  in  the 
course  of  the  drill.  Sam  went  through  all 
the  motions,  except  the  firing.  He  was 
afraid  to  do  that.  At  night,  his  mother 
asked  him  if  he  had  done  all  right,  and  he 
said  he  had ;  but  one  of  his  brothers,  who  had 
been  watching  him,  declared  that  Sam  hadn't 
fired  off  his  gun  once  ;  that  if  lie  had,  the 
men  next  to  him  did  not  know  it.  The  old 
lady  was,  of  course,  very  angry,  and  told  Sam 
to  come  out  in  the  yard  with  her.  '  I'll  show 
you,'  said  she,  '  how  to  fire  a  gun.'  So  she 
shouldered  the  old  musket,  totally  unaware 
that  it  contained  six  charges,  and  fired.  Of 
course,  the  old  thing  kicked  like  all  possessed, 
and  landed  her  flat  on  her  back  about  six 
yards  away,  whereupon  Sam  sang  out,  '  Take 
care,  mother !  There's  five  more  charges 
coming.' ' 

'•  What  a  goose,"  laughed  Marian. 

"  I  should  say  so.  But  I  never  see  that 
old  house  —  you  know  it  can  be  seen  from 
almost  every  hilltop  around  here  —  without 


150  KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT. 

thinking  of  Sam  Liscum  and  his  poor  old 
mother."  . 

"  That's  a  pretty  good  story,"  sa>d  Max, 
getting  up  and  stretching  himself;  "  but  I'm 
sick  of  sitting  still.  Come  on,  Charlie. 
Let's  have  a  game  of  ball/' 

"  Oh  !  it  is  too  warm,"  protested  Marian. 
"  Besides,  they  must  start  for  home  pretty 
soon.  It  is  a  good  hour's  ride,  and  Mr. 
Wellman  will  want  his  dinner  at  twelve 
o'clock." 

"I'm  afraid  I'll  forget  all  those  dandy  new 
curves  I  learned  just  before  we  left  home," 
sighed  Max.  "  We  haven't  had  time  to  play 
any  hardly,  lately,  and  I'm  getting  all  out  of 
practice." 

"  Haven't  hardly  !  "  sighed  Charles,  with 
a  look  of  difficult  resignation.  "  Well,  Max, 
you  ought  to  keep  in  practice,  sure  enough. 
Crack  pitchers  have  to." 

Max  glanced  up  suspiciously,  but  Charles 
only  began  to  whistle,  and  looked  off  into 
space. 

kt  I  don't  care.  I  can  pitch  a  good  game, 
now,  you  Charlie  Curry,"  cried  Max,  begin 
ning  to  pout. 

"  Oh  !    you  pitch   well  enough,"   admitted 


KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT.  151 

Charles  condescendingly.    "  You've  got  some 
daisy  curves." 

Max's  dear  little  pudge  of  a  face  cleared 
beamingly.  "Which  do  you  think  pitches 
best,  Charlie,"  he  asked  confidingly,  "  Ruddy 
or  Covell  ?  "  naming  two  of  the  most  famous 
pitchers  in  the  country. 

"  Oh  !  I  never  saw  Ruddy  pitch  more  than 
once  or  twice,"  replied  Charles  discriminat 
ingly  ;  "  but  I  should  say  he  had  a  better 
method  than  Covell."  Max's  face  fell  again. 

"  Now,  I've  been  try  in'  to  pitch  like 
Covell,  jes'  as  near  as  I  could.  I'm  sure 
I've  gotten  some  of  his  curves." 

"  Well,  where  did  you  get  hold  of  '  got 
ten?'  "  cried  Charles,  in  deep  disgust.  "You 
do  come  out  with  the  strangest  words! 
There  isn't  a  soul  in  the  family,  nor  in  this 
town,  that  says  '  gotten,'  so  far  as  I  know, 
and  here  you  have  picked  it  up.  For  pity's 
sake,  where  did  you  find  it  ?  " 

"  Oh !  I  saw  it  in  a  paper,"  admitted  Max, 
"  and  I  thought  you  would  think  I  was 
gettin'  to  use  awful  good  grammar,  if  I  said 
such  a  nice  word  as  that;  and  here,  the  first 
chance  I  had  to  say  it,  you  pitch  into  me." 

"  Oli  !    it    is    a    dreadful    word,    isn't   it, 


152  KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT. 

Marian?"  said  Charles,  looking  as  though 
he  were  inhaling  ver\r  disagreeable  odors. 
kk  You  didn't  see  it  in  any  good  papers.  The 
best  writers  never  use  it.  It  is  an  affected 
word.  Say  good,  old-fashioned  '  got '  when 
you  need  to,  but  give  us  a  rest  on  '  gotten.' 
If  you  would  pay  less  attention  to  base-ball 
and  more  to  grammar,  you  would  make  a 
good  deal  more  of  a  man." 

"  Oh !  come  now,"  expostulated  Marian, 
"you  might  let  him  have  a  day  off  from 
grammar  when  he  goes  blackberrying,  espe 
cially  when  he  gets  stung  by  hornets." 

"  A  da}'  off,"  grumbled  Charles;  "•  he  has 
a  day  off  from  grammar  evory  day  of  his 
life.  He  knows  the  namo  of  every  ball 
player  in  the  national  league,  and  just  what 
his  record  is  ;  but  in  his  talk,  as  I  said  the 
other  day,  a  singular  noun  lies  down  with 
a  plural  verb,  and  a  little  conjunction,  sure 
to  be  the  wrong  one,  leads  them.  There's 
a  hole  in  Max's  head  where  the  grammar 
ought  to  be." 

"  (),  well !  that  isn't  the  worst  thing  in  the 
world,"  said  Marian,  smoothing  Max's  brown 
head  gently,  for  she  saw  that  he  was  chafing 
under  Charlie's  scathing  arraignment. 


KIEK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT.  153 

"  I'd  a  good  deal  rather  play  base  ball  than 
fuss  over  grammar,"  sighed  Max,  emboldened 
by  Marian's  support.  "•  You  might  know 
how  to  talk  good,  and  yet  not  know  how  to 
pitch  a  single  curve.  I'd  enough  sight  rather 
pitch  good  than  talk  good." 

'•  Just  think  of  all  papa's  and  mamma's 
friends  who  come  to  the  house  to  see  them," 
Charles  reminded  him,  endeavoring  to  appeal 
to  his  pride.  "  Just  think  how  they  would 
stare  to  hear  you  get  off  some  of  those  choice 
expressions  of  yours." 

"  I  shouldn't  care  how  much  they  stared," 
blurted  Max,  truthfully,  "  long's  I  could 
pitch  good." 

"  Pitch  good  !  "  moaned  Charles ;  but  he 
had  no  further  opportunity  to  coach  Max 
just  then,  for  one  by  one  the  rest  of  the 
party,  tired  and  heated,  but  pleased  with 
their  success,  began  to  come  up,  and  other 
topics  suggested  themselves. 

That  night  they  had  a  famous  game  of 
logomachy.  Max  took  "  thin  "  from  his 
mother  by  making  it  "  plinth,"  a  word  which 
no  one  had  any  idea  that  he  had  ever  heard 
before,  and,  later,  won  "prod"  from  Marian, 
by  making  it  "  torpid." 


154  KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT. 

"  Torpid  !  "  exclaimed  his  mother.  "  Wliv, 
honey,  I  had  no  suspicion  that  you  knew 
there  was  such  a  word  as  '  torpid.'" 

"  I  guess  you  can't  have  looked  very  sharp 
on  the  telegraph  poles  down  by  the  river," 
said  Max,  by  way  of  explanation.  "On 
'most  every  one  of  'em,  it  tells  you  that 
Gullerton's  Tills  are  the  best  thing  in  the 
world  for  a  torpid  liver.  I  don't  know  what 
a  torpid  liver  is,  but  I  do  know  there's  such 
a  word  as  torpid,  you  see." 

"  O,  horrors  !  Max,"  cried  his  alarmed 
parent.  "  Haven't  you  anything  better  to  do 
than  to  read  those  dreadful  patent  medicine 
advertisements?  Don't  read  them." 

"Why  not?"  argued  Max.  "If  I  hadn't 
read  'em,  I  shouldn't  'a'  got  'torpid,'  for  I 
never  heard  of  that  word  anywhere  else,  and 
it  is  an  awful  good  word." 

What  could  be  advanced  to  gainsay  this? 

Later,  he  made  "mobbed"  from  Kirk's 
"  bomb,"  and  "  novice  "  from  Charles's 
"voice."  By  the  time  that  Mrs.  Curry  an 
nounced  the  end  of  the  game,  in  order  that 
they  might  have  a  half-hour  to  read  before 
bedtime,  they  were  all  behind  that  young 
champion,  as  usual. 


KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT.  155 

"  And  yet,"  murmured  Charles,  as  he  set 
tled  himself  to  listen  while  his  mother  read 
a  chapter  or  two  from  "  The  Old  Curios 
ity  Shop,"  "  and  yet,  that  boy  can't  put  a 
dozen  words  together  straight  to  save  his 
life.  I  can't  understand  it."  But  it  was 
a  fact. 

The  next  morning,  Marian  begged  Mr. 
Wellman  for  the  privilege  of  taking  a  ride 
on  Put.  Put  was  a  fairly  good  saddle-horse, 
and  early  in  the  summer  Marian  had  had 
several  long  rides  on  him.  One  day,  she 
had  essayed  a  ride  upon  Old  Hundred,  when 
Put  was  employed  upon  the  farm,  but  as  he 
had  stumbled  and  pitched  her  over  his  head 
before  he  had  gone  a  mile,  leaving  her  sore 
and  lame  for  a  number  of  days  afterward, 
she  had  not  attempted  to  utilize  him  as 
a  saddle-horse  since  then.  Put  had  been 
pretty  steadily  worked  lately,  and  Marian 
had  been  pining  in  vain  for  a  ride  for  two 
or  three  weeks. 

"  My  habit  will  get  moth-eaten,  I  fear,  if  I 
don't  use  it  pretty  soon,  Mr.  Wellman,"  she 
protested.  "  Can't  I  have  him  just  from  — 
say  three  to  four,  this  afternoon  ?  " 

Mr.  Wellman  really  did  not  know  how  to 


156  K1KK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT. 

get  along  without  Put  that  afternoon,  but  as 
he  was  very  fond  of  Marian,  and  knew  that 
she  had  no  other  horse  available  but  Put, 
and  that  she  had  been  very  reasonable  in  her 
requests  for  the  use  of  horses,  he  consented. 
Mrs.  Curry  had  at  first  been  unwilling  to 
have  Marian  go  riding  alone,  and  had  made 
"  herculanean  "  efforts  (as  Mr.  Wellman's 
new  hired  man  said),  to  send  Charles,  or 
Kirk,  or  some  other  eseort  with  her,  on  Old 
Hundred  or  Mr.  Houston's  horse,  or  some 
steed  which  she  had  been  able,  after  much 
difficulty,  to  obtain  from  the  village.  Mar 
ian  had  proved  to  be  so  capable  and  steady- 
nerved  a  rider,  however,  never  having  met 
with  any  accident,  except  in  the  affair  of  Old 
Hundred,  that  she  had  finally  overcome  her 
scruples,  and  allowed  the  girl  to  go  by  her 
self.  Old  Hundred  usually  unseated  every 
body  who  mounted  him,  any  way,  and  the 
boys  declared  that  it  had  not  been  any  dis 
grace  to  Marian  that  she  had  been  thrown. 
Put  never  stumbled,  and  Marian  declared 
that  she  was  as  safe  on  his  back  on  the  most 
lonely  and  unfrequented  road  in  the  vicinity, 
as  she  would  be  sitting  in  the  parlor  cro 
cheting.  As  she  had  been  bred  to  the  sad- 


KIRK  STILL   HOLDS   OUT.  157 

die  from  her  babyhood,  and  as  everybody 
agreed  that  she  was  an  admirable  rider,  she 
had,  ever  since  the  first  two  or  three  weeks 
of  her  stay  at  the  farmhouse,  taken  her  rides 
alone,  until  her  aunt  had  quite  recovered 
from  her  nervousness  at  having  her  go  off  so. 

Promptly  at  three  o'clock,  therefore,  Put 
appeared,  saddled  and  bridled,  at  the  farm 
house  door,  and  at  the  same  moment  Marian 
issued  thence,  equipped  for  her  ride.  The 
boys,  who  had  promised  to  assist  Mr.  Curry 
in  the  potato  field  for  the  usual  seven  cents 
an  hour,  were  hanging  about,  only  waiting  to 
see  her  off.  They  all  bade  her  good-by  gayly, 
but  not  without  a  little  envy,  and  watched 
her  until  she  had  disappeared  around  a  bend 
in  the  road,  giving  them  a  merry  wave  of  the 
hand.  Then  the  boys  sought  the  potato  field, 
and  Mrs.  Curry  returned  to  her  sewing  in 
the  parlor.  She  was  embroidering  a  cloth 
jacket  for  Val.  There  was  going  to  be  a  cap 
to  match,  on  which  Marian  had  been  for  some 
weeks  at  work,  and  Mrs.  Curry,  as  she  stitched 
away,  pictured  her  beautiful  boy  as  he  would 
appear  when  tricked  out  in  all  his  bravery  in 
the  winter. 

Max  soon  returned  from   the  potato  field, 


158  KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT. 

declaring  that  his  back  "  would  break  if  he 
kept  that  up  much  longer,"  and  Mrs.  Curry 
heard  him  " shooing  "  and  otherwise  talking 
to  his  hens,  most  of  whom  had  eventually  re 
turned  from  the  caves  and  holes  in  the  earth, 
in  which,  according  to  Mr.  Wellman's  the 
ory,  fowls  usually  take  refuge  when  over 
taken  by  a  panic  such  as  that  caused  by 
the  fire.  Val  was  monotonously  rendering  a 
roundelay,  which  was  a  sort  of  a  cross  be 
tween  "Annie  Rooney  "  and  "Comrades,"  as 
he  picked  berries  in  the  garden.  A  carpenter 
was  hammering  and  sawing  in  the  new  barn. 
An  occasional  jingle  or  crash  proceeded  from 
the  kitchen.  These  were  all  the  sounds  that 
disturbed  the  stillness  of  the  peaceful  Sep 
tember  afternoon.  The  droning  quiet  and 
the  sultry  warmth  made  Mrs.  Curry  irre 
sistibly  drowsy.  Her  work  dropped  from 
her  hands,  and  she  sat  gazing  off  across  the 
green  fields  and  woods.  What  a  change  it 
was  going  to  be  to  the  dull  rows  of  houses 
and  the  dusty  streets  of  the  city  !  It  seemed 
a  real  trial  to  go  back  to  them. 

From  the  little  piazza  beside  her  window, 
the  Wellman  grounds  sloped  away  to  the 
brook.  She  could  hear  its  sleepy  babble  as 


KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT.  159 

she  sat  gazing.  In  the  night  it  sometimes 
seemed  to  roar  like  thunder.  Across  the 
brook  rose  a  hillside,  partly  given  over  to 
woods,  and  partly  to  pasture-land.  She  could 
see  the  grass-grown  road  which  wound 
through  the  midst  of  these  woods  and  past 
ures.  It  passed  a  farmhouse  similar  to  the 
Wellmans',  and,  a  little  farther  on,  a  tiny 
evergreen-strewn  graveyard,  its  white  stones 
si  lining  in  the  westering  sunlight.  Some 
distance  beyond  this  rose  a  diminutive  school- 
house. 

The  dreamy  September  haze  rested  upon 
everything,  and  made  it  seem  unreal,  and 
Mrs.  Curry  felt  that  she  was  rapidly  drift 
ing  off  into  the  realm  of  visions,  when  sud 
denly  she  was  rudely  awakened.  A  horse 
went  cantering  by  the  schoolhouse,  and 
turned  there  into  the  road  which  led  up  to 
the  Well  in  an  place.  No  vehicle  was  at 
tached  to  it.  No  one  seemed  to  be  riding  it. 
The  horse  was  presently  lost  to  sight  in  the 
woods.  It  emerged  from  them  at  a  gallop. 
Mrs.  Curry's  breath  came  so  fast  that  she  was 
almost  suffocated.  A  spy-glass  hung  always 
on  the  little  piazza.  She  hurried  out  to  look 
through  it.  By  this  time,  the  horse  had 


1GO  KIRK  STILL   HOLDS  OUT. 

reached  the  opposite  farmhouse,  and  stood 
out  plainly  against  the  treeless  hillside  be- 
3'ond.  It  was  Put  —  without  a  doubt  —  and 
Marian  was  not  on  him. 

In  a  moment  she  had  aroused  all  the  people 
on  the  farm.  Mr.  Wellman  and  the  boys, 
summoned  by  a  terrible  blast  on  the  dinner- 
horn,  came  running  with  ashen  faces  to  see 
what  was  the  matter.  They  started  down 
the  road  at  once,  and  presently  they  sent 
Max  up  to  the  house,  leading  Put.  lie  was 
trembling  all  over,  and  was  covered  on  one 
side  with  mud.  The  stirrup  was  broken. 
These  signs  completed  Mrs.  Curry's  grief 
and  dismay,  but  she  did  not  swoon  nor  burst 
into  tears.  The  men  and  boys  had  gone  off 
on  their  feet ;  in  their  haste  and  excitement 
they  had  not  thought  of  harnessing  a  horse. 
It  occurred  to  Mrs.  Curry  that  she  herself 
could  harness  Old  Hundred,  who  was  stand 
ing  in  the  barn,  and  that  she  and  Mrs.  Well 
man  might  set  out  to  hunt  np  Marian  in  the 
opposite  direction  from  that  which  the  men 
had  taken.  Marian  had  gone  out  one  way. 
The  horse  had  come  in  from  another.  This 
assured  Mrs  Curry  that  the  girl  had  taken  a 
favorite  route  of  hers,  which  was  in  the  form 


KIRK  STILL  HOLDS  OUT.  161 

of  a  square.  This  square  embraced  a  great 
swamp  where  grew  many  rare  flowers,  which 
she  was  very  fond  of  gathering. 

Upon  consultation  with  Mrs.  Wellman, 
however,  that  judicious  lady  decided  that,  in 
case  Marian  should  be  brought  home  injured 
in  any  way  by  a  fall  from  her  horse,  either 
she  or  Mrs.  Curry  should  be  at  home  to  re 
ceive  her.  Mrs.  Curry  agreed  perfectly  with 
this  view,  and  accordingly  she  and  Inez 
started  out  together,  both  of  them  almost 
wild  with  terror  and  apprehension. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

MARIAN    CONQUERS   ALL. 

POOR  Old  Hundred  luid  not  gone  a  mile 
on  his  way  up  the  hill,  when  he  was  over 
taken  by  another  team.  Upon  hearing  the 
rapid  footsteps  behind  her,  Mrs.  Curry  turned. 
She  found  that  Put,  who  was  a  wonderfully 
rapid  walker,  had  been  harnessed  by  Kirk 
and  Sim,  the  hired  man,  and  would  be  at  the 
top  of  the  hill,  according  to  present  appear 
ances,  long  before  Old  Hundred  had  covered 
a  half-mile  farther.  She  thought  of  telling 
Sim  'that  she  would  exchange  places  with 
Kirk.  Sim  was  a  level-headed  and  very 
strong  young  man,  and  she  knew  that  if 
Marian  should  have  fallen  from  her  horse, 
and  should  be  found  helpless  —  Mrs.  Curry 
would  not  admit  that  anything  worse  could 
have  befallen  the  dear  girl  whose  fate  was 
1C* 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  103 

just  now  so  mysterious  —  why,  tlien  Sim's 
strength  would  be  absolutely  necessary.  It 
would  not  do,  on  this  account,  for  her  to 
order  Sim  to  take  Old  Hundred,  and  drive 
on  with  Inez.  Therefore,  she  felt  that  she 
must  order  Kirk  to  give  his  place  to  her. 
But  the  boy's  face  and  demeanor,  as  she  drew 
Old  Hundred  aside  in  order  that  Put  might 
pass  him,  made  her  feel  that  she  ought  not 
to  prevent  him  from  going  with  Sim. 

"•  There  are  a  lot  of  us  out  hunting  for 
Marian,  mamma,"  he  said,  in  a  tremulous 
voice ;  "  Mr.  Wellman  and  Charlie  and  Max 
have  gone  up  the  road,  and  two  men  have 
gone  down  toward  the  village  —  Mr.  Houston 
and  Mr.  Mellows.  Fred  and  the  Mellows 
boy  have  just  harnessed  up  Mr.  Houston's 
horse,  and  started  up  the  road  after  Mr.  Well 
man  as  hard  as  they  could  tear.  They  have 
got  the  long  farm  wagon,  just  as  we  have,  so 
that  —  so  that"  — 

Kirk's  voice  gave  out  a  little  just  here,  and 
he  hurried  to  add,  "  But  we  mustn't  stop. 
We  shall  get  to  the  swamp  long  before  the 
others  do,  and  we'll  search  every  inch  over 
till  we  find  her — if  she  is  in  there.  You 
needn't  be  afraid,  mamma;  we  will  look  every- 


104  MAItlAX  COXQUEJiS  ALL. 

where,"  lie  ended,  as  they  dashed  off  up  the 
road,  Put  with  some  of  the  mud  still  clinging 
to  his  side,  which  lie  had  brought  with  him 
when  he  came  in  without  the  beautiful  rider 
who  had  gone  out  so  gayly  upon  his  back  one 
short  hour  before. 

Mrs.  Curry  and  Inez  drove  on  as  fast  as 
poor  Old  Hundred  could  carry  them,  but  be 
fore  they  had  gone  a  half-mile  farther,  the 
old  beast  fell  flat  down  in  the  road.  Fearful 
that  he  would  strangle  in  his  twisted  harness, 
Mrs.  Curry  and  Inez  tugged  feverishly  at 
every  strap  and  buckle  until  they  had  com 
pletely  freed  him  from  it.  Even  then  the 
old  horse  could  not  rise,  and  after  dragging 
the  wagon  off  to  one  side  of  the  road  where 
it  was  in  no  danger,  as  it  had  been  as  soon  as 
Old  Hundred  was  well  out  of  the  thills,  of 
slipping  backward  down  the  steep  hill,  Mrs. 
Curry,  leaving  Inez  to  watch  the  panting  and 
struggling  —  by  spasms  —  old  creature,  hur 
ried  back  down  the  road  to  find  somebody  to 
help  in  raising  him  up. 

This  road  was  always  a  quiet  one,  but  that 
afternoon  it  was  perfectly  deserted.  It  wound 
along  beside  a  rapid  mountain  stream,  and 
between  two  high  hills,  both  of  which  were 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  165 

heavily  wooded,  except  where  here  and  there 
they  had  been  cleared  to  give  the  cattle 
a  grazing-place.  No  men,  no  teams  were 
visible  anywhere.  Wringing  her  hands,  and 
moaning  aloud  in  her  almost  maddening  per 
plexity  and  affright,  she  ran  breathlessly 
down  the  road  until  she  had  fairly  reached 
the  Wellman  house.  There,  she  and  Mrs. 
Wellman  consulted  together—  the  image  of 
Marian's  sunny  face,  crowned  with  its  waves 
of  light-brown  hair,  and  appealing  to  them 
for  help,  contrasting  with  the  picture  which 
Mrs.  Curry  was  drawing  of  the  poor,  blunder 
ing  old  horse  stretched  helplessly  out  in  the 
highway,  his  hind  feet  reposing  on  the  abrupt 
"  thank-you-marm  "  on  which  he  had  had  the 
bad  taste  to  stumble.  They  laughed  hysteri 
cally  at  the  vision,  and  then  as  hysterically 
burst  into  tears. 

"  I  don't  see  what  we  are  to  do,  but  leave 
him  there,"  said  Mrs.  Wellman  at  length. 
"A  team  will  come  along  sometime,  and  a 
man  will  probably  accompany  it.  With  the 
help  of  Inez,  he  can  then  be  brought  home. 
In  any  case,  some  of  the  men  must  be  back 
here  soon,  and  then  they  can  go  and  get  him. 
Inez  will  stay  by  him  in  the  meantime.  He 


166  MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL. 

never  gets  up  alone  when  he  falls  so.  There 
fore  he  can't  run  away." 

The  imaginary  spectacle  of  Old  Hundred 
running  away,  convulsed  them  again  with 
hysterical  laughter,  from  which  Mrs.  Curry 
rallied  to  burst  into  tears  a  second  time,  with 
the  words,  "  To  think  that  by  this  time,  if 
that  wretched  old  thing  hadn't  fallen  down, 
I  might  have  been  at  the  swamp ;  and  if 
nothing  had  turned  up  there,  a  half-mile  be 
yond.  And  Marian  may  need  me  so  cruelly. 
Oh  !  why  didn't  I  insist  upon  going  on  with 
Sim  and  making  Kirk  take  my  place  ?  " 

"  Then  you  would  have  blamed  Kirk  al 
ways  for  letting  Old  Hundred  fall  down," 
Mrs.  Wellman  reminded  her.  "  There  is  no 
use  in  fretting  about  it  now.  Why,  where 
lias  Val  been  ?  Just  before  you  came  in  he 
was  out  in  the  shed  holding  Charcoal  —  tak 
ing  advantage  of  Max's  absence —  and  there 
he  comes,  running  down  the  road." 

Val  came  in  breathlessly  an  instant  later. 

"  Man  tummin',"  he  announced  cheerfully. 

"Oh  !  did  he  pick  up  Old  Hundred?"  ex 
claimed  Mrs.  Curry. 

"  He  said  Ma'an  tummin',"  he  continued. 
k*  He  di'n't  say  anything  about  Ole  Hundred." 


MAE  I AN^  CONQUERS  ALL.  167 

"Marian!"  screamed  Mrs.  Curry. 

"  Marian  !  "  echoed  Mrs.  Wellman. 

They  flew  to  the  door.  Sure  enough,  a 
man  was  "  tummin'."  He  was  driving  a  horse 
which  seemed  to  Mrs.  Curry's  impatient  spirit 
to  go  about  half  as  fast  as  that  mettled  courser, 
Old  Hundred.  Val  had  actually  exchanged 
several  words  with  its  driver  a  few  rods  up 
the  road,  and  then  had  reached  the  house  at 
least  two  minutes  in  advance  of  him. 

At  last  he  came  "lowging,"  as  Mrs.  Well- 
man  expressed  it,  up  to  the  door. 

"Is — is  my  niece  found?"  queried  Mrs. 
Curry,  without  stopping  to  salute  him, 
though  she  knew  him  as  a  stupid,  and  not 
very  respectable  farmer,  who  had  lived  on  a 
hill-farm  some  miles  above  the  Well  mans', 
all  of  his  dense,  inefficient  life. 

"  Yor  folks  is  a-comin',"  began  the  man 
haltingly,  "  an'  Sim  Tubbs,  he's  a-drivin',  an' 
one  o'  your  boys  —  the  one  that:  wears  the 
yaller  an"  black  "  — 

"But  was  my  niece  with  them?  Did  you 
tell  my  little  boy  that  she  was  coming?" 
inquired  Mrs.  Curry,  almost  crazy  with  the 
man's  delay. 

"  I  was  a-goin'  to  tell  ye,"  said  the  man  re- 


108  MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL. 

provingly,  as  he  shifted  his  quid  of  tobacco 
from  one  cheek  to  the  other,  "  I  was  a-goiif  to 
tell  ye  —  was  that  your  old  hoss  lyin"  in  the 
road,  a  spell  back  here,  Mis'  \Vellman  ?  " 

"Yes,  yes  !''  broke  in  Mrs.  Curry  feverishly. 
•"Never  mind  him  !  Was  my  niece — that 
tall,  fair  girl,  with  a  great  braid  of  light 
hair  —  you  must  have  seen  her  when  you 
drove  past  here  sometimes,  was  she  with 
them  ?  " 

"  I  was  a-going  to  tell  ye,  as  I  said  before," 
continued  the  man,  "  only  ye  wouldn't  let 
me.  Sim,  he  stopped  to  pick  up  the  old 
hoss  "  — 

At  this  moment  Mrs.  Curry  gave  a  wild 
shriek,  and  following  it  up  with  a  shrill 
"Thank  God!  Marian,  Marian!''  dashed 
past  her  exasperating  interlocutor.  Down 
the  road  came  Put,  and  on  the  seat  of  the 
farm  wagon  the  lost  girl  sat  bravely  up,  sup 
ported  on  one  side  by  Kirk  and  on  the  other 
by  Inez.  As  Mrs.  Curry  flew  to  meet  them, 
the  stupid  farmer  in  the  doorway  stared  after 
her  as  though  she  had  been  a  ghost. 

41  Is  she  that  way  often  ?  "  he  asked  Mrs. 
Wellman  in  a  dazed  way.  "  Looks  to  me  as 
though  she  was  a  leetle  mite  tetched."  (The 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  169 

local  expression  for  slight  aberration  of  mind.) 
"  Wai,  I  must  be  goin'  along." 

He  nodded  to  Mrs.  Wellman,  and  had  just 
time  to  clear  the  narrow  private  way  which 
led  up  to  the  Wellmans'  door  from  the  main 
road,  when  Put  came  swiftly  into  it,  and  in 
a  moment  more,  Marian  was  sobbing  in  her 
aunt's  arms. 

When  they  had  all  quieted  down  a  little, 
and  Marian,  who  was  very  pale  and  weak, 
had  been  laid  to  rest  upon  the  lounge,  Mrs. 
Curry  said,  "  Now,  Marian,  we  all  want  to 
know  about  everything,  but  I  can  see  that 
you  are  very  weak,  and  hadn't  you  better  lie 
still  awhile  before  you  talk  any  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  I  couldn't  keep  you  on  tenterhooks 
like  that,"  laughed  Marian  faintly.  "  It 
won't  take  me  long  to  tell  you,  and  I  want 
you  to  know  how  it  was.  Do,  do  forgive  me 
for  causing  you  such  a  dreadful  fright.  In 
deed,  I  didn't  mean  to." 

The  tears  gathered  in  her  eyes.     She  was 
evidently   distraught    by  the    trying    experi 
ences,  whatever    they   were,   through   whicl 
she  had  passed. 

"  There,  there  !  "  said  Mrs.  Curry,  soothing 
her  as  though  she  had  been  a  baby,  "of  course 


170  MAR  I  AX  CONQUERS  ALL. 

you  didn't  mean  to,  and  I  sha'n't  scold  you, 
if  you  were  a  little  careless.  I  presume 
you  were  a  trifle  careless  —  or  were  you 
taken  by  surprise,  or  what  was  it  ?  But 
don't  tell  until  you  are  quite  ready,  dear/' 

"  Oh !  I  wasn't  thrown  off.  You  don't 
understand,"  began  Marian. 

"  You  don't  understand  in  the  least,"  broke 
in  Kirk,  glowering  darkly  at  his  mother. 
"She  wasn't  careless  at  all,  not  at  all." 

"I'm  not  so  sure  of  that,  Kirk  dear,"  smiled 
Marian,  weakly ;  "  perhaps  I  ought  to  have 
fastened  Put ;  but  there  comes  Sim.  lie 
stopped  to  put  the  harness  on  Old  Hundred, 
and  hitch  him  into  the  wagon.  He  said  the 
old  fellow  wasn't  hurt  a  mite.  Isn't  that 
strange  ?  " 

Sure  enough,  there  was  Sim,  patiently 
guiding  Old  Hundred's  tottering  footsteps 
toward  the  barn,  while  behind  him  came 
a  sudden  clatter,  and  Mr.  Wellman,  with 
Charles  and  Max  and  Fred  Houston,  driving 
Mr.  Houston's  horse,  appeared  around  the 
corner  of  the  stone  wall.  Fred  came  in  so  as 
to  hear  Marian's  story.  The  others,  with  a 
shower  of  broken  questions  and  exclamations, 
iinally  settled  down  enough  to  sit  quietly  in 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  171 

chairs  in  the  parlor,  while  Marian  drew  her 
self  up  against  her  pillow,  and  after  swallow 
ing  a  cup  of  hot,  strong  tea,  which  brought 
the  first  gleam  of  color  into  her  pale  face,  be 
gan  her  tale : 

"  I  thought  when  I  started,  since  I  had 
promised  Mr.  Wellman  that  I  would  be  gone 
only  an  hour,  I  wouldn't  stop  an  instant  at 
the  swamp.  You  know  how  hard  it  is  for 
me  to  go  by  it  without  stopping,  now  that 
those  wonderful  red  orchids  have  come  out 
up  there  ;  but,  as  I  said,  I  was  bound  that  I 
would  resist  temptation.  So  I  didn't  look  that 
way  at  all  until  I  was  nearly  past  it.  Then 
I  turned  just  for  an  instant,  and  what  should 
I  see  but  the  most  perfect  bunch  of  orchids 
that  I  ever  beheld  —  and  it  wasn't  a  rod 
from  the  fence  —  or  didn't  seem  to  be.  Of 
course,  all  of  my  good  resolutions  vanished 
like  —  like  —  well  —  like  Mr.  Wellman's 
barn,  only  a  good  deal  quicker,  and  off  I 
jumped  to  get  my  flowers.  They  turned  out 
to  be  on  a  little  knoll  —  that  was  why  I  could 
see  them  so  plainly  —  and  they  were  some 
what  farther  off  than  I  had  at  first  supposed. 
I  tried  to  pick  my  way  carefully,  but  you 
know  what  the  footing  is  in  there,  and  I 


172  MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL. 

was  over  my  shoes  in  mud  before  I  knew  it. 
Then,  just  Ifefore  I  readied  the  '  hummock,' 
I  slipped  in,  trying  to  leap  across  a  bad  place, 
and  down  I  went,  flat,  into  the  most  loath 
some  kind  of  a  mud-hole.  When  I  got  up  my 
habit  was  just  plastered  with  mud,  and  my 
head  was  a  little  giddy,  for  I  struck  hard  on 
it,  when  I  went  down.  But  I  managed  to 
get  back  to  the  road,  floundering  through  the 
soft  places  almost  anyhow,  with  my  flowers 
in  my  hand.  Put  was  standing  there  like  a 
lamb,  and  I  clambered  on  his  back  and  pur 
sued  my  way.  In  getting  up,  with  my  wet, 
heavy  habit,  and  stiff  as  I  was  after  my  fall, 
I  broke  the  stirrup.  I  have  noticed  that  it 
seemed  weak  all  summer.  By  this  time  I 
was  pretty  cross,  as  you  may  imagine. 

"  Then,  what  do  you  think  !  I  rode  on 
three  or  four  rods  farther,  and  what  should  I 
see,  quite  a  distance  inside  the  fence,  but  an 
other  bunch  of  the  flowers.  I  reflected  that 
my  feet  were  already  about  as  wet  as  they 
could  be.  and  I  was  all  covered  with  mud,  so 
that  I  couldn't  l>e  more  favorably  equipped 
for  getting  swamp-flowers.  I  felt  lame, 
but  the  spell  was  upon  me,  I  suppose.  At 
any  rate,  I  slid  off  Put  again,  and  dashed 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  173 

into  the  dimness  of  the  swamp.  I  managed 
to  get  to  this  bunch  without  falling  down; 
but  just  as  I  reached  it,  I  saw  another  just 
beyond,  and  another  just  beyond  that,  and 
then  when  I  turned  to  get  back  to  Put  — I 
couldn't  —  I  found  that  I  was  lost." 

"•Or  you  lost  that  you  were  found,"  inter 
rupted  Kirk,  who  was  just  tired  and  excited 
enough  to  be  silly. 

"Anyhow,  I  was  lost,"  went  on  Marian, 
giving  Kirk  an  affectionate  little  hug,  to  the 
great  surprise  of  his  mother.  "I  suppose  that 
my  head  had  been  sort  of  muddled  ever  since 
I  fell.  If  it  hadn't  been,  I  don't  think  I 
should  have  been  such  a  goose  as  to  get  off 
Put  the  second  time,  when  I  was  so  lame 
and  weak.  Why,  to  have  seen  me,  I  am 
sure  you  would  have  thought  that  I  was 
crazy.  All  that  I  can  remember  is  that  I  ran 
hither  and  thither,  and  that  whichever  way  I 
turned  I  found  nothing  that  seemed  familiar 
to  me  —  nothing  but  the  everlasting  green 
hummocks,  and  the  dim  shade,  and  tangles 
of  vines,  and  pools  of  shiny,  black-and-blue 
water.  At  last  I  sat  down  on  a  dry  rock.  I 
was  so  bewildered  that  I  feit  I  must  compose 
myself  or  else  I  should  never  get  out  in 


174  MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL. 

the  world ;  and  whether  I  fainted  or  fell 
asleep  I  don't  know  ;  all  that  I  can  recollect 
is  that  I  wondered  what  made  my  head  feel 
so  dizzy  ;  and  even  in  the  midst  of  my  giddi 
ness  and  fright,  I  thought  that  maybe  drunken 
men  felt  something  as  I  did.  The  next  tiling 
that  I  can  remember  clearly  was  that  my  dear 
Cousin  Kirk  was  kissing  me  and  saying, '  Wake 
up,  Marian  !  For  pity's  sake,  wake  up  ! '  and 
his  precious  old  tears  were  falling  on  my 
face  —  as  though  there  wasn't  water  enough 
in  the  swamp  to  dash  over  me  if  necessary  !  " 
and  Marian  stopped  again  to  give  Kirk's 
head  another  loving  little  squeeze  with  her 
hands,  at  which  Kirk  turned  red,  but  seemed 
immensely  pleased. 

"  And  presently  I  seemed  to  come  out  of  a 
sort  of  trance," she  proceeded  seriously,  "and 
Kirk  took  hold  of  one  of  my  arms  and  Sim 
the  other,  and  helped  me  to  the  road,  which 
wasn't  so  very  far  off  —  after  all  my  trouble  - 
and  I  managed  to  climb  into  the  wagon,  and 
here  I  am.  It  didn't  occur  to  me.  until  I 
got  out  of  the  swamp,  that  Put  would  have 
galloped  home  after  waiting  a  reasonable 
time  for  me  to  come  out ;  and  I  felt  more 
dazed  than  ever  when  I  saw  him  standing 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  175 

there,  all  harnessed  into  the  wagon.  Then  I 
saw  that  the  sun  was  setting,  and  I  realized 
that  a  long  time  must  have  elapsed  since  I 
went  into  the  swamp.  How  it  must  have 
scared  you  to  have  him  come  galloping  home 
without  me,  and  with  the  stirrup  broken, 
and  the  mud  all  over  him.  What  an  awful 
start  it  must  have  given  you.  You  must 
have  thought  that  I  was  dead." 

Marian  shuddered,  and  her  dark  eyes  were 
swimming  in  tears,  as  her  aunt  enfolded  her 
again  in  a  glad  embrace. 

"  Can  you  ever  forgive  me  ?"  begged  Marian 
again,  when  she  had  been  released  and  held 
off  at  arm's  length,  so  that  her  aunt  could 
give  her  face  an  ecstatic  perusal. 

uCan  we,  Kirk?"  asked  Mrs.  Curry  of  her 
son,  who  had  been  comporting  himself  so 
strangely  during  the  last  few  hours. 

"  Well,  I  guess  !  "  rejoined  Kirk  witli  boyish 
succinctness.  "  Now  we've  got  her  home 
safe,  I  guess  we  can  forgive  most  any  thing  — 
that  is,"  he  added,  swallowing  hard,  and 
choking  up  a  little,  after  all,  tk  if — if  she 
can." 

Kirk  spoke  with  the  air  of  a  boy  who  was 
turning  a  new  leaf,  and  who  was  bound  to 


17G  MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL. 

turn  it,  no  matter  what  it  cost  him.  His 
mother  gave  him  a  rapturous  kiss,  while 
Marian  murmured  softly,  "  It's  all  right, 
Kirk,  and  more  than  right : "  but  Charles 
hud  human  nature  enough  to  give  a  long, 
low  whistle  at  this  juncture.  This  made 
Kirk  turn  and  glare  at  him  fiercely,  while  his 
lip  trembled,  as  though  he  were  about  to 
break  loose  in  one  of  his  most  scathing  re 
bukes  ;  but  Mrs.  Curry  silenced  Charles  with 
an  awful  glance,  and  proceeded  to  ask  Marian 
questions,  meanwhile  petting  Kirk  as  hard  as 
she  could,  until  his  wrath  had  subsided.  No 
one  could  understand,  like  his  mother,  how 
hard  it  was  for  her  self-willed  boy  to  admit 
that  he  had  been  in  the  wrong,  and  to  try  to 
make  noble  amends,  as  Kirk  was  evidently 
now  bent  upon  doing. 

"And  you  don't  feel  as  though  you  had 
caught  cold,  dear?"  she  inquired  anxiously. 

"Not  a  bit,"  returned  Marian  reassuringly. 
"  I  only  feel  tired  and  a  little  bewildered,  and 
I  find  that  I  bent  my  wrist  in  some  way  when 
I  fell.  That  hot  tea  threw  me  into  a  perspi 
ration  which  seems  to  have  broken  up  what 
ever  cold  I  may  have  had.  I  shall  be  all 
right  to-morrow ;  but  there's  no  knowing 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  177 

where  I  should  have  ended  if  it  hadn't  been 
for  this  clever  little  cousin  of  mine,"  and  she 
patted  Kirk  tenderly  on  the  shoulder. 

"  Oh  !  some  of  the  rest  would  have  found 
you  if  I  hadn't,"  protested  Kirk  modestly. 

"  They  might,  and  again  they  mightn't. 
Anyhow,  the  fact  remains  that  you  did  it; 
and  to  you  belongs  all  the  credit.  Just  be 
cause  another  man  might  sometime  have  in 
vented  the  phonograph  does  not  alter  the  fact 
that  Edison  really  did  invent  it." 

Kirk  continued  to  blush  deeply,  and  mur 
mured  some  unintelligible  words  of  depreca 
tion. 

"  We  seem  to  have  entered  upon  an  '  era 
of  good  feeling,' ''  laughed  Charles,  with  a 
little  touch  of  injury  in  his  voice.  (Per 
haps  he  thought  of  the  parable  of  the  prodi 
gal  son,  which  was  certainly  not  inapplicable.) 
"•  Max  and  I  and  some  others  did  our  best ; 
but  we  don't  seem  to  be  'in  it,'  do  we,  Max?  " 

"O,  Charles,  don't!  "  tears  rose  to  Marian's 
eyes.  "  You  are  '  in  it,'  too,  and  Max  and 
all  of  you.  How  you  must  all  have  rushed 
around  looking  for  me  !  Don't  think  me  un 
grateful  —  don't." 

"  Oh  !  that's  all  right,"  laughed  Charles,  a 


178  MARIAN  COXQUEBS  ALL. 

little  ashamed  of  his  outburst.  "  But  you 
know  we  don't  want  the  head  of  that  young 
brother  of  mine  to  be  enlarged  beyond  its 
normal  dimensions." 

"  You  just  attend  to  your  own  head,  and 
I'll  look  after  mine,"  rejoined  Kirk,  some 
what  resentfully ;  but  nobody  took  offense 
at  his  tone.  They  all  realized  that  he  had 
been  through  a  good  deal,  and,  as  he  himself 
remarked  later  to  his  mother,  a  boy  can't  put 
up  with  everything. 

'•If  Max  can  stand  it  to  be  parted  a  mo 
ment  from  that  dreadful  cat,"  suggested 
Charles,  thinking  more  of  giving  Marian  a 
chance  to  rest  than  of  anything  else,  "  we 
might  have  a  game  of  ball." 

"  Can't  we  play  something  that  Marian 
can  play,  too?"  asked  Kirk,  with  unex 
pected  gallantry,  and  quite  failing  to  grasp 
Charles's  intention.  The  eyes  of  both  of 
the  other  boys  quite  stood  out  from  their 
heads  with  astonishment,  but  Charles  man 
aged  to  answer  calmly:  "Certainly,  if  she 
feels  able  to  play  anything." 

"  No,  I  shall  not  let  her,"  said  Mrs.  Curry 
decidedly.  "  She  must  rest  quietly  here 
now  until  tea  is  served.  Hun  out,  all  of 


MAEIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  181 

you.  But  it  was  lovely  in  you  to  think  of 
it,  just  the  same,  Kirk  dear,"  she  whispered, 
as  she  passed  that  metamorphosed  young 
man  on  her  way  to  her  own  room,  a  moment 
later. 

The  next  day,  Marian  felt  quite  like  her 
self  again.  It  was  fortunate  that  she  was  so 
well,  for  all  of  Mrs.  Wellman's  and  of  Mrs. 
Curry's  friends  in  the  vicinity  called  —  or 
pretty  nearly  all  —  in  order  to  hear  the  tale 
of  Marian's  adventure  at  first  hand.  Most 
extraordinary  stories  were  flying  around  the 
neighborhood.  It  was  positively  asserted 
that  Marian's  horse  had  thrown  her  off ;  that 
she  was  lamed  for  life  ;  that  her  nose  was 
broken,  and  her  visage  otherwise  irreparably 
scarred ;  that  Mr.  Wellman  was  going  to 
sell  Put  on  account  of  this  new  caper  ;  that 
Mrs.  Curry  had  ordered  him  to  be  shot,  in 
the  first  flush  of  her  indignation,  and  many 
other  tilings,  equally  absurd.  Marian  and 
the  rest  of  the  family  became  very  weary  of 
relating  the  details  of  the  affair,  and  Marian 
suggested  that  a  tablet  containing  its  main 
features  should  be  hung  outside  of  the  front 
door,  so  that  all  who  came  merely  to  hear 
that  now  old,  old  story,  might  read  it  there, 


18-2  MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL. 

and  pass  on,  without  further  troubling  the 
peaceful  residents  of  the  farmhouse.  But 
the  best  part  of  the  tale  could  not  be  told 
abroad,  and  Mrs.  Curry  1  merged  it  close  in 
her  heart.  It  seemed  to  her  to  mark  an 
epoch  in  Kirk's  development,  and  she  could 
hardly  wait  to  tell  it  to  his  father,  when  he 
should  make  his  next  visit  to  the  farm. 

Beautiful,  dreamy  September  days  fol 
lowed  this  disquietude.  On  the  twentieth 
they  were  to  go  home.  It  was  a  "  blow,"  as 
Marian  said,  to  think  of  returning  to  the 
city.  It  would  be  wise,  she  intimated  play 
fully,  to  imitate  the  lotos-eaters  —  to  give  up 
the  world,  and  in  this 

"  hollow  Lotos-land  to  live  and  lie  reclined 
On  tlie  hills  like  gods  together,  careless  of  mankind." 

She  and  Max  talked  it  over  one  day 
beneath  Mrs.  Curry's  window,  much  to  tho 
latter's  amusement.  Max  had  been  feeding 
his  flock  of  hens,  and,  in  company  with 
Charcoal,  was  watching  his  darlings  as  they 
picked  up  their  morsels. 

"  I  don't  want  to  go  back  to  the  city,  do 
you,  Marian?"  asked  the  little  boy. 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  183 

"  I  think  it  is  perfectly  lovely  up  here," 
replied  Marian  discreetly. 

"  My  Wyandotte's  got  horrid  sneezes," 
went  on  Max,  in  very  much  of  a  minor  key ; 
"  an'  if  I  don't  stay  an'  see  to  her,  likely 
she'll  die.  Mrs.  Wellman  jest  laughs  when 
ever  I  tell  her  anything  about  it.  There 
don't  anybody  up  here  half  look  out  for  the 
hens  when  I  ain't  here.  I  know  that.  But 
mamma  won't  hear  a  word  about  takin'  the 
hens  home.  If  I  could  take  my  Wyandotte 
home  now,  it  would  be  all  right.  Mrs. 
Wellman  is  willing,  but  mamma  ain't." 

"Oh!  I  shouldn't  judge,  from  what  they 
all  say,  that  there  is  room  for  hens,  and  to 
hang  out  the  clothes,  and  everything,  in 
your  back  yard.  Your  mother  doesn't  think 
there  is." 

"  It's  plenty  big  enough,"  insisted  Max 
irritably ;  "  an'  I  could  mostly  make,  a  lien- 
house  myself.  I  know  just  how  to  make  it. 
I'd  have  a  window  with  glass  in  it  on  the 
southeast  side,  and  a  door  opening  on  the 
north.  I've  read  all  about  how  to  build  it 
in  the  Poultry  Yard.  That's  the  paper  that 
papa  sends  me  every  week.  My  Wyandotte 
lays  lots  of  eggs.  It  would  save  papa  a 


184  M  AH  IAN  CONQUERS  ALL. 

sight  of  money,  if  he  would  only  let  me 
keep  hens." 

Max  sighed  and  looked  very  forlorn. 

"  That  black  hen  out  there  seems  to  keep 
away  from  the  rest,"  remarked  Marian,  hop 
ing  to  divert  Max's  mind  to  the  present  from 
the  henless  future  which  lie  was  so  gloomily 
contemplating.  "I've  noticed  her  several 
times.  She  always  seems  to  be  grubbing  for 
worms  and  bugs,  instead  of  eating  the  good 
things  which  you  bring  out." 

"  She's  jest  the  contrariest  hen  I've  got,'' 
complained  Max.  '•  I  get  as  mad  as  fury 
with  her.  Do  you  see  how  thin  she  is  ? 
Well,  that's  jest  because  she  won't  eat  my 
good  corn  and  scraps  and  things.  If  I  had 
her  at  home,  I  could  see  to  her,  but  now 
I  suppose  she'll  go  on  eating  bugs  and 
worms,  an'  nothing  else,  an'  gettin'  thinner 
an'  thinner,  until  she  up  'n'  dies." 

Max's  tone  was  one  of  distressing  mel 
ancholy. 

"  Oh  !  may l>e  not.  Maybe  she'll  reform," 
suggested  Marian  hopefully.  '•  That's  a 
pretty  hen  marching  up  the  hill  there,  with 
that  big  scrap  in  her  mouth.  She  must  be 
one  of  your  nicest  hens,  isn't  she  ?  " 


MARIAN  CONQUEES  ALL.  185 

"  A  nice  hen  !  "  repeated  Max,  as  though 
he  thought  Marian  must  be  joking.  "  Why, 
Marian,  I  should  think  you  might  see  by 
her  eyes  that  she's  a  cross  hen.  She's  an 
awful  cross  hen.  She's  been  in  more  fights 
since  we  came  up  here  than  all  the  other 
hens  put  together.  That's  the  one  I  told 
you  about  when  you  first  came,  don't  you 
remember?  I  wish  I  knew  what  to  do  with 
her  to  make  her  better  tempered.  Now, 
that  Plymouth  Rock  hen  over  there's  jest 
as  'different.  Why,  she's  the  swe-e-test  dis- 
positioned  hen  in  the  whole  flock.  It's 
exactly  like  folks.  Some  of  'em  you  jest 
love,  an'  some  of  'em  you  jest  hate." 

"Oh!  you  shouldn't  hate  anybody,"  inter 
polated  Marian  morally. 

"  Well,  folks  do.  I  do,  an'  I  can't  help  it. 
Kirk  does,  too.  Kirk  hates  piles  and  piles  o' 
folks.  He  hates  all  girls." 

"  O,  no  ;  he  doesn't."    Marian  said  quickly. 

"  Well,  he  used  to.  If  he  don't  now,  he's 
got  over  it  awful  lately,"  persisted  Max. 

"  lie's  seen  the  error  of  his  ways,"  laughed 
Marian. 

"  I  thought  he  did  act  kinder  different," 
admitted  Max. 


186  MA/UAX  CONQUERS  ALL. 

"You  see,  he  didn't  know  until  within  ;i 
little  while  that  girls  were  just  as  jolly  as 
boys,  because  he  hadn't  known  girls  except 
in  classes  in  school,  you  see,"  explained 
Marian. 

44  Did  he  tell  you  that?"  inquired  Max, 
incredulously. 

"  Certainly  ;  and  apologized  handsomely 
for  having  thought  that  I  was  '  no  good  '  at 
first,  just  because  I  was  a  girl." 

"  Did  Kirk  apologize  ?  "  cried  Max  won- 
deringly. 

"  He  surely  did.  Oli  !  he's  one  of  the 
nicest  boys  going,  Kirk  is." 

Max  meditated  for  a  moment.  Then  his 
curiosity  crot  the  letter  of  his  discretion,  and 

*/      O 

he  asked  under  his  breath  : 

"Did  he  tell  you  that  he  used  to  always 
call  you  '  Mary  Ann  ?' ' 

"lie  didn't  need  to  tell  me  that."  Marian 
laughed,  and  colored  a  little.  "He  knew 
that  I  had  heard  him." 

"Didn't  it  make  you  awful  mad  ?" 

"Rather,"  admitted  Marian;  "but,  of 
course,  I  knew  he  would  come  around  all 
right  after  a  while.  Kirk's  got  good  prin 
ciples,  you  know,  Max. 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  187 

Max  looked  a  little  puzzled,  and  hinted 
that  Kirk  was  "meaner  'n  pusley  to  Charcoal 
sometimes,"  to  say  nothing  of  more  highly 
organized  beings  related  to  himself  by  ties 

o  o  *f 

of  consanguinity  —  or  words  to  that  effect ; 
but  Marian  leniently  remarked  that  the  best 
of  boys  were  not  perfect,  with  which  emi 
nently  true  generalization,  Max,  especially  as 
he  was  really  very  fond  of  Kirk,  subsided. 
lie  was  the  more  ready  to  let  the  matter  go 
just  now,  because  he  heard  at  this  juncture  a 
rooster  crowing  in  a  violent  and  unusual 
manner,  which  indicated,  to  his  practiced 
ear,  as  he  informed  Marian,  that  a  hen-hawk 
was  hovering  near. 

"  It's  as  plain  to  me  as  a  b  c  is  to  you, 
Marian,  what  that  yellow  rooster's  saying. 
He  says  '  Hurry  up  an'  get  into  the  corn  or 
somewhere,  or  else  a  lien-hawk  '11  nab  you.' 
He  don't  seem  to  you,  I  s'pose,  to  be  sayin' 
much,  but  he  is." 

"  Max,"  said  Charles,  with  sudden  force, 
as  he  shot  around  an  unexpected  corner, 
"  I've  heard  you  talking  for  some  time  now, 
and  I've  counted  the  mistakes  you  have 
made  within  about  ten  minutes.  By  my 
count  —  and  I  dare  say  I  lost  several  mis- 


188  MARIAS  COSQUERS  ALL. 

takes  —  you  have  made  ten.  You  might  at 
least  remember  to  say  '  he  doesn't,'  instead 
of  'he  don't.'  The  Phonographic  Dictionary 
allows  it,  but  the  International  doesn't,  and 
that's  the  one  to  go  by.  Why  can't  you 
remember?" 

•k  1  don't  guess  I  ever  will,"  replied  Max, 
with  a  cheerfulness  as  discouraging  as  his 
constructions.  "Somehow  I  don't  seem  to 
care,  long's  I  can  make  folks  understand  what 
I  want  to  have  'em.  Long's  I  can  do  that, 
I  don't  know  as  it  makes  much  difference.'' 

"  '  Don't  know  as,'  '  moaned  Charles. 
"  That  child's  grammar  will  bring  mamma's 
gray  hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave." 

"  Yet  she  doesn't  seem  to  mind  it  as  much 
as  you  do,"  laughed  Marian. 

"  Oh !  she's  given  him  up  long  ago.  She 
says  that  nothing  but  Time  will  ever  fetch 
him  around." 

"  And  can't  you  wait  for  Time  ?  "  asked 
Marian  playfully. 

"I  can't  resist  trying  to  help  him  along  a 
little,"  said  Charles.  "  I'm  mostly  concerned 
for  the  reputation  of  the  family.  What  sort 
of  a  father  and  mother  can  people  think  that 
Max  has  ?  " 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  189 

Even  Marian's  merry  laugh  at  Charles's 
long  face,  could  not  rid  Max  of  a  feeling 
of  uncomfortable  guilt,  and  he  hastened  to 
change  the  subject  by  inviting  that  devoted 
reformer  to  join  him  in  a  game  of  ball.  He 
probably  hoped  to  remind  him  that  though 
he  was  not  good  for  much  in  some  directions, 
he  was  not  to  be  despised  in  others.  Charles 
gloomily  consented,  and  in  a  few  moments 
more  had  entirely  lost  his  shadowy  brow  in 
a  lively  game. 

The  twentieth  fell  that  year  on  a  Saturday. 
Mr.  Curry,  after  installing  the  trustworthy 
woman  who  always  attended  to  putting  the 
house  in  order  for  the  family's  home-coming, 
was  to  arrive  on  Thursday  in  order  to  assist 
in  packing  and  starting  off  the  numerous 
articles  which  must  be  carried  home.  What 
with  Charlie's  boxes  and  bottles  of  beetles, 
the  bats  and  bicycles,  Mrs.  Curry's  barrels  of 
jellies  and  canned  fruits,  and  various  barrels 
of  vegetables  for  winter,  there  was  a  formid 
able  array  of  things  to  be  transported  to  the 
station  on  Friday  in  the  farm  wagon.  The 
whole  family  must  start  early  on  Saturday 
morning,  so  that  even  the  trunks  had  to  be 
packed  on  Friday  night. 


100  MAIUAX  CONQUERS  ALL. 

Mrs.  Curry  was  through  with  her  work  by 
seven  o'clock,  and  she  hastened  then  to  join 
Mr.  Curry  and  the  boys. in  the  parlor,  where 
they  were  gathered  ever  so  cosily  around  an 
open  fire.  During  the  last  few  days,  the  real 
fall  weather  had  come  on,  and  the  lire  was 
very  grateful.  Marian  had  not  yet  come 
down  from  her  room.  Yal  had  just  been  put 
to  bed. 

The  boys  were  unusually  quiet.  Now  and 
then  one  of  them  yawned  or  stretched  him 
self,  but  they  did  not  seem  to  care  to  talk, 
nor  to  engage  in  reading  or  games. 

"What  makes  you  all  so  still?"  asked 
Mrs.  Curry,  when  she  had  sat  long  enough 
to  get  a  little  rested. 

"Oh  !  "  remarked  Mr.  Curry,  with  portent 
ous  gravity,  "constant  loquacity  is  not  es 
sential  to  our  happiness,  is  it,  boys?" 

"  It  isn't  essential  to  mamma's,  either," 
affirmed  Charles,  looking  with  a  gallant  smile 
toward  his  mother. 

"  Well,  girls  do  like  to  talk  more  than 
boys  do,  don't  they,  papa?"  queried  Kirk, 
with  a  return  to  his  old  hateful  manner. 

"Does  Marian  talk  any  more  than  you  do, 
I  should  like  to  know?"  demanded  Max. 


MAS  TAX  COXQUEBS  ALL.  191 

"  Oh !  Marian's  an  exception,"  admitted 
Kirk  humbly.  Habit  was  strong,  or  else  he 
would  not  have  said  what  he  did  at  first. 

"  By  the  way,  boys,"  said  Mrs.  Curry,  "  I 
have  something  to  talk  over  with  you  before 
Marian  comes  in.  I  had  a  letter  from  your 
Uncle  William  to-day,  and  he  is  anxious  to 
have  Marian  return  to  California,  and  live 
with  him.  He  says  that  we  have  had  her  all 
summer,  and  that  her  letters  show  that  she 
is  greatly  improved  in  her  condition,  both  of 
mind  and  body,  and  so  he  wants  her  to  come 
back  to  him.  Of  course,  Marian  herself  must 
decide  the  matter,  but  I  would  like  to  know 
what  you  would  prefer." 

"  Oh !  I  should  think  you  would  better 
have  her  stay,  if  she  will,"  said  Charles 
promptly.  "Kirk's  room  at  home  is  plenty 
large  enough  for  him  and  for  me,  too,  and 
she  can  have  mine  as  well  as  not.  It  is  a 
good  deal  nicer  having  a  girl  in  the  family 
than  I  thought  it  would  be  —  T  mean,  an 

o 

extra  nice  girl  like  Marian." 

"  Aw-w-w-w  !  "  suddenly  burst  forth  from 
Max's  corner,  where  he  was  sitting  on  a 
cricket,  with  his  head  in  his  mother's  lap. 
"A \v-\v-w!"  the  wail  was  at  first  subdued, 


192  MARIAN  COXQUEJtS  ALL. 

but  it  presently  swelled  out  in  his  loudest 
crescendo ;  "  I  don't  want  my  Marian  —  to  — 
go  —  away.      What's  she  got  to  go  fer?     I 
don't  want  my  Marian  to  go   away.     She's 
go-od  to  my  hens  —  an'  to   my  Charcoal  — 
an'  I  don'  want  her  to  go  away  !     Hoo-o-o  ! 
Aw-w-w !  " 

"  There  you  have  it  in  a  nutshell,"  com 
mented  Charles  ironically,  as  soon  as  Max 
paused  for  breath. 

"  I  wish  she'd  break  you  of  crying,"  ex 
claimed  Kirk.  "  You  cry  more  to-day  than 
Val  does,  you  great  baby  !  I'd  be  ashamed  ! " 

"  There,  there  ! "  interposed  Mrs.  Curry, 
"  Max  is  improving ;  he  is  a  great  deal  more 
self-controlled  than  he  was  a  year  ago.  There, 
darling,"  as  Max's  howls,  which  had  burst 
out  with  fresh  vigor  upon  hearing  Kirk's 
cutting  indictment,  began  to  moderate  under 
his  mother's  praises, "  perhaps  Cousin  Marian 
won't  go  away.  It  seems  to  me  that  she 
can't  have  the  heart  to  leave  us  when  she 
finds  out  how  we  all  feel." 

"  But  Kirk  hasn't  spoken,"  remarked  his 
father,  turning  suddenly  and  gazing  into  the 
boy's  face.  "  How  is  it,  Kirk  ?  Shall  we  let 
Uncle  William  have  Marian  ?  " 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  193 

"  I  should  think  I  had  shown  how  I  feel 
about  it,"  replied  Kirk,  with  an  evident  effort. 

"  I  should  say  so,"  interrupted  Charles 
significantly,  and  under  the  circumstances 
rather  unkindly.  But  Kirk  bore  the  innu 
endo  bravely.  He  knew  in  his  soul  that  he 
had  deserved  it. 

"  I  thought  she  was  going  to  be  horrid, 
because  she  was  a  girl,"  he  resumed,  only 
stopping  to  glare  at  Charles  speechlessly  a 
moment ;  "  but  of  course  it  stands  to  reason 
that  all  girls  ain't  horrid  —  for  mamma  was  a 
girl  once,  and  other  nice  ladies.  I  don't  pre 
tend  to  think  yet  that  girls  are  as  nice  as  boys ; 
bufr  I  do  think  that  Marian  is  splendid,  and 
I  have  asked  her  to  forgive  me  for  treating 
her  so  at  first  —  and  —  of  course  I  sha'n't 
call  her  Mary  Ann  any  more  —  and  — 
and"- 

Kirk's  voice  died  away  rather  tremulously, 
but  he  managed  by  winking  very  hard  not  to 
shed  any  tears,  and  was  just  going  on  to  say 
something  further,  when  the  door  opened, 
and  Marian  herself  walked  into  the  room. 

"  Well,  I'm  tired,"  she  exclaimed,  flinging 
herself  into  a  chair  with  a  sigh  and  a  weary 
laugh. 


194  MAR/AX  CONQUERS  ALL. 

"  Are  you  too  tired  to  hear  about  a  letter  I 
have  had  to  day  from  your  Uncle  William  ?  " 
asked  Mrs.  Curry. 

"  O,  no!"  cried  Marian,  sitting  up  straight 
at  once.  "  What  did  he  say  ?  " 

"  He  wants  to  know  if  we  are  going  to  let 
you  go  back  to  him  pretty  soon." 

"  O,  dear  !  does  he  ?  " 

"  And  he  seems  to  tliink  that  you  would 
better  come  at  once,  and  stay  with  him  all 
the  time  now." 

Marian's  bright  face  fell  perceptibly. 

"But,"  put  in  Mr.  Curry,  "we  feel  as 
though  we  could  not  let  you  go." 

"Oh!  do  you?"  cried  Marian,  turning 'to 
him  as  though  she  would  throw  her  arms 
around  his  neck  and  kiss  him  if  she  dared  ; 
but  kind  as  he  was  to  her,  he  was  very  digni 
fied,  and  she  stood  in  considerable  awe  of 
him.  • 

"  Uncle  William  has  been  very  good  to  me 
always,"  she  added  presently ;  "  I  wouldn't 
hurt  his  feelings  for  the  world --but  —  but 
I  really  feel  as  though  he  were  sending  for 
me  from  a  sense  of  duty  more  than  anything 
else.  He  isn't  much  used  to  young  people, 
and  they  put  him  out  terribly  —  and — and 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  195 

it  seems  as  though  I  couldn't  go  back  to 
California  and  not  find  my  father  there." 

Marian  threw  her  head  down  upon  her 
aunt's  shoulder  and  sobbed  softly  for  a  mo 
ment.  The  boys  felt  wretchedly  uncomfort 
able.  Of  all  things,  the  worst  was  to  have 
anybody  cry  and  make  a  scene.  Max  in 
stinctively  tried  to  stave  it  off. 

"Say,  you  better  stay  with  us  —  won't  you, 
Marian  ? "  he  murmured  hesitatingly,  but 
very  sincerely. 

"  Oh  !  you  dear  little  Biddy-boy,"  cried 
Marian,  as  she  lifted  her  face,  half-laughing 
and  half-crying,  and  looked  into  Max's  big, 
blue  eyes.  "  And  do  you  want  me  to  stay, 
too?" 

"  I  guess  you'd  have  thought  so  if  you  had 
heard  him  wailing  here  a  minute  ago  because 
he  thought  you  were  going  away,"  laughed 
Charles. 

"•  Oh  !  was  that  what  he  was  crying  for  ? 
I  heard  him.  Bless  his  precious  little  heart ! 
But  —  but  —  really — I  don't  like  to  be  called 
4  Mary  Ann  ; '  "  she  turned  roguishly  to  Kirk, 
"  and  you  know  that  girls  all  chew  gum  so, 
and  lace  so,  and  mince  around  so,  and  are  such 
hypocritical,  treacherous  things,  that  I  truly 


196  MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL. 

don't  see  how  you  can  bear  to  have  one  of 
them  stay  in  the  family,"  she  looked  archly 
from  Charles  to  Kirk  and  then  back  again, 
and  at  last  burst  into  a  merry  laugh. 

"  Oh  !  if  your  scruples  are  founded  on 
such  little  matters,  maybe  we  can  overcome 
them,"  said  Kirk,  flushing,  but  returning 
Marian's  look  affectionately.  "  We  can't 
accuse  you  of  having  any  of  those  interesting 
little  ways  that  you  have  mentioned.  There 
fore  we  have  no  objections  to  your  sort  of 
girl." 

"  O,  Kirk  dear  !  are  you  sure?" 

"  Sure,"  responded  Kirk,  with  feeling. 

"  But  I'm  awfully  disagreeable  sometimes," 
murmured  Marian  repentantly,  "  and  I  don't 
see  how  you  can  "  — 

Mrs.  Curry  kissed  Marian's  mouth  at  this 
point,  and  Kirk  seized  the  opportunity  to  say, 
as  though  he  had  endured  the  suspense  as 
long  as  he  possible  could,  "  Well,  then  you'll 
stay,  won't  you  ?  " 

There  were  tears  of  joy  in  Marian's  eyes  as 
she  answered,  "  Oh !  I'd  love  to,  if  you  think 
I'm  worth  keeping." 

"Hooray  !  "  shouted  Max,  jumping  up,  and 
swooping  across  the  room  ;  "I'm  going  to  get 


MARIAN  CONQUERS  ALL.  197 

up  awful  early,  so's  I  can  tell  the  hens  and 
Charcoal,  an'  they'll  be  jest  tickled." 

"Oh!  you  goose, "  said  Kirk  disgustedly, 
"  tell  the  hens  !  O,  my  !  " 

"  Max,"  began  Charles  oracularly,  "  I'll  ask 
Marian  not  to  stay,  if  you  don't  stop  saying 
'jest'  for  'just.'" 

"  Oh  !  we're  none  of  us  on  dress  parade  to 
night,"  interrupted  Mr.  Curry  mercifully, 
"  from  now  till  bedtime  I  move  that  Max  be 
allowed  to  talk  any  kind  of  grammar  that  he 
likes." 

The  motion  was  carried,  and  the  dear  little 
black  sheep  of  the  family  reveled  for  one 
enchanted  hour  amid  the  wrecks  and  ruins 
of  syntax  and  pronunciation  in  which  his 
lawless  soul  so  much  delighted. 


PS     Clark  - 
5505   "That  Vary 
C541t  Ann". 


PS 

3505 

C541t 


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